XLVIII REPORT OF COMMISSIONER OF FISH AND FISHERIES. 
and Davidson — but they had been located by only a few isolated sound- 
ings, and their extent and boundaries were undetermined. 
The only commercial marine fisheries which have been developed in 
Alaskan waters are those for the cod, and for the seal and other aquatic 
mammals. The first cod brought to San Francisco from the North 
Pacific region were said to have been taken in 18G3 in the Gulf of 
Tartary and in the Ochotsk Sea. Two years later six vessels were 
engaged in this fishery, and in the same year they began to fish for cod 
in the neighborhood of the Shumagin Islands, off the Alaskan coast. 
Twenty-four vessels participated in this industry in 1870, but only 
eight in 1880, and the same number in 1888. The places most fre- 
quented for this purpose were in the vicinity of the Shumagin Islands 
and Kadiak, a few vessels also entering Bristol Bay to the north 
of the peninsula. Besides the cod, many other valuable food-fishes, 
including the halibut, are very abundant on the Alaskan coast; 
but owing to the distance from markets and the unsettled condition 
of the region these resources have not been utilized hitherto except by 
the natives. Even on the coasts of Washington, Oregon and California, 
where a great variety and abundance of marine fishes exist, the diffi- 
culty of disposing of a large catch has been tine chief cause of the slow 
development of the fishing- grounds. The Alaskan products are chiefly 
marketed through San Francisco, which has also been the center of 
the only extensive local sea-fishery on the western coast. With the 
recent completion of several transcontinental railroads, affording the 
means of rapid transportation for fresh produce into the interior of the 
country, and with the prospect of greatly increasing the trade in salt 
cod and other prepared fishes with Central and South America, as well 
as Asia, a renewed interest has sprung up in relation to the western 
fisheries, which seems destined before long to exert a marked influence 
upon the welfare of the Pacific States. It was an expression of this 
interest that led Prof. Baird, shortly before his death, to prepare for 
the extensive investigations now in progress, which should determine, 
for the benefit of the fishermen, the varieties of fishes distributed along 
the coast, and the places where they occur in greatest abundance. 
The steamer Albatross arrived at San Francisco from the Atlantic 
coast in May, 1888, at which time the general scheme of operations had 
been perfected by Commissioner McDonald. This provided primarily 
for a somewhat rapid yet comprehensive survey of all the waters 
adjacent to the western coast of the United States from the Mexican 
boundary line to the northern part of Bering Sea, the same to be 
restricted mainly to the submerged continental platform or between the 
shore line and a depth of 200 to 300 fathoms, as the principal bottom 
fisheries occur within those limits. As the characteristics of the bot^ 
tom in this region are but little known, it was necessary to arrange for 
a very complete hydrographic as well as natural- history investigation, 
for both of which the Albatross is well adapted. Subsequently it is, 
