INVESTIGATIONS OF THE ALBATROSS. 
473 
purposes of drying and smoking, and that is that they have numerous 
white u gelatinous” streaks through the flesh. This is considered to 
impair their value for preparation in these ways. The same peculiarity 
was noticed in the fletched halibut taken off Queen Charlotte Islands 
by Capt. S. Jacobs, in 1888, and shipped to Gloucester. 
The schooner Rose Oleson , of Astoria, chartered by parties in Port 
Townsend has made one trip to Cape Scott this season for halibut. 
She sailed the first part of April and was gone five weeks, bringing back 
15.000 pounds, of which 1,800 pounds were smoked and the remainder 
sold fresh. 
January 3, 1889, the schooner Oscar and Hattie , Captain Silas Calder, 
sailed from Port Townsend for Alaska on a fietched-halibut trip. She 
proceeded directly to Sitka, and began fishing on the inshore grounds 
adjacent to Baranoff Island, where halibut had been reported to be most 
abundant. Work was carried on continuously whenever the weather 
permitted until March 1, but halibut were very scarce, and not enough 
were caught to keep the lines baited. Captain Calder stated that while 
there may be enough fish on these grounds to furnish fishing for a few 
Indians in their small canoes, a large vessel could not expect to meet 
expenses here. Subsequently he changed his position to the deeper 
waters offshore, but met with no better success. He also thinks it 
would not pay to follow the halibut to the inclosed waters among the 
islands of the archipelago during the summer months for vessel fishing, 
as the fish are not known to resort very abundantly to any one place. 
During his stay off Sitka, he encountered many heavy gales, doing 
much damage to the rigging and fishing gear, but they had no snow 
or ice to contend against as would have been the case in the same lati- 
tude on the north Atlantic coast. 
In the early part of March, having met with no success off Sitka, h‘e 
proceeded southward and fished in the neighborhood of the Queen 
Charlotte Islands, Cape Scott, and Hecate Channel. Halibut were 
more common in these localities but not abundant. They seemed to be 
easily caught up, and frequently he was obliged to shift his position 
twice a day. Fishing was continued until the first week in June, and 
by dint of hard and persevering work he managed to obtain a fare of 
140.000 pounds. The halibut were much larger this year than last. 
Captain Calder estimated the average weight of those taken by him at 
about 65 pounds each. None could be caught in water over 45 fathoms 
deep. 
In my last report* I stated that it would be possible for vessels on 
the northwest coast to obtain two fares of fletched halibut a year, and 
to that extent these vessels would have an advantage over those of 
the Atlantic. This statement may require modification, in view of 
Captain Calder’s experience of the past season, but until the grounds 
have been more fully investigated, and their position, extent and 
* Bulletin U. S. Fish Commission for 1888, page 64. 
