140 REPORT OF THE COMMISSIONER OF FISHERIES. 
$400,000 in value. The number of pounds given, however, probably 
includes the catch for that year landed at Vancouver, which was not 
included in reports of the last canvass. In the same year 5,019,000 
pounds of halibut were shipped from Vancouver to Boston, leaving 
15,031,000 pounds to be disposed of at Seattle, Tacoma, and other 
points on Puget Sound. Some remarkable catches have been reported 
for 1908, the steamer Vew England being said to have obtained a fare 
of 145,000 pounds of halibut in one day’s fishing, the greatest amount 
ever taken in one day by a vessel carrying 12 dories. 
In 1903 the halibut fleet of Seattle numbered thirty-odd sailing ves- 
sels, mostly schooners, and one steamer. The schooners are small, 
ranging from 8 to 42 tons; the steamer Painier, lost in November, 
was 109 tons register. Besides this fleet there were two other 
steamers, the Vew England and the Wingfisher, T1 and 141 tons, 
respectively, that sailed out of Vancouver, British Columbia, and as 
these vessels are owned by the New England Fish Company, they 
should be included in the American fleet. Their catch is landed at 
Vancouver and shipped overland in bond to Boston, where it is 
reshipped to various points in the West and to cities along the Atlan- 
tic seaboard. 
Considerable investigation has been made at different times by fish- 
ing vessels with the object of discovering new halibut grounds, but 
little has been learned in recent years to indicate the existence of 
extensive banks offshore. The principal grounds lie, for the most 
part, in waters belonging to British Columbia. Large fares have been 
taken in Dixon Entrance, off Cape Muzon and Cape Chacon, and 
many trips have been secured farther north in the channels and bays 
of southeast Alaska, but the largest catches have been made in waters 
adjacent to the northern end of Queen Charlotte Islands and on 
banks on the east side of Hecate Strait. During the winters for the 
past ten years a few small steamers and an occasional schooner have 
been engaged in catching halibut in southeast Alaska and shipping 
them to Puget Sound. It may be stated that the halibut grounds in 
this region are not so large and prolific as those farther south. 
THE SAN FRANCISCO WHALING FLEET. 
The fleet of whale vessels having headquarters at San Francisco, 
Cal., in 1903 comprised 10 steamers, 6 barks, and 4 schooners, a total 
of 20 vessels, of which number 2 steamers and 4 barks were owned at 
New-Bedford, Mass. The number of whales captured during the year 
was 169, of which 19 were bowhead, 5 right, and 145 sperm. These 
were all secured by 14 vessels, the remainder of the fleet being reported 
without any catch. The whale products landed at San Francisco con- 
sisted of 59,750 pounds of whalebone, 20,601 gallons of whale oil, and 
