FIFTEENTH ANNUAL MEETING. 



1'7 



DEEP SEA DREDGING ON THE U. S. STEAMER 

 "ALBATROSS." 



BY F. L. WASHBURN. 



Though the appropriateness of discussing the above subject 

 in the Society of American Fisheries might at first be questioned, 

 second thought assures me that the work now being done bv the 

 Albatross will, in the near future, prove of the greatest value to 

 fish-culture and fisliery economy. 



Thus assured, I ask your attention for a few minutes, hoping 

 not to tax too severely those who are familiar with the pro- 

 cess of marine dredging, and trusting the article may be of some 

 interest to our western friends, whose (jppf)rtunities for deep sea 

 fishing are naturally limited. 



In the first place, a word about the Albatross and the purpose 

 for which she was built. She is a twin screw iron steamer of 

 i,ooo tons displacement, 235 feet in length, built in 1883 by the 

 Pussey & Jones Co., of Wilmington, Del. She was constructed 

 for the United States Fish Commission, and intended to make 

 extensive trips along our ccjast and to other countries, for the 

 purpose of making observations on the ocean fisheries. Her 

 work, principally, consists in determining, by sounding opera- 

 tions, the temperatures of the water of the sea, the nature of the 

 bottom, and the effect of the same on the migrations and breed- 

 ing of the mackerel, cod, menhaden and other varieties of 

 economic importance to our fisheries. When the vessel can be 

 spared from the regular work of the Fish Commission, she is 

 loaned to the Navy Department, who use her for the purpose of 

 observing the ocean depths, surveying harbors, and especially 

 in determining the existence of ledges and shoals hitherto un- 

 known. Her crew numbers between fifty and sixty men. Her 

 commander at present is Capt. Z. L. Tanner, U. S. N., and she 

 is officered by lieutenants of the navy. 



Mr. J. E. Benedict is the naturalist in charge, and there is gen- 

 erally associated with him on board a scientific stafif of two or 

 more to assist him in obtaining data and preparing specimens. 



