478 REPORT OF COMMISSIONER OF FISH AND FISHERIES. 
Mr. Moor does not think it advisable to send vessels to Flattery Bank 
earlier than the 1st of March nor later than the 1st of September. He 
thinks that halibut are abundant from March to J un; tut do not occur 
in incredible numbers, as has been reported from tri e to time. 
In November, 1888, Capt. Silas Calder, then of the schooner Mollie 
Adams , made a series of trials for halibut on Flattery Bank, but did 
not secure a single specimen. He is of the opinion that vessels could 
obtain good fares during a few months of each year, and might find the 
business profitable if there were a market for the catch. But as there 
are now no markets on the northwest coast that can take more than a 
few hundred pounds of the fish at a time, there is no incentive for ves- 
sel fishermen to engage in the industry. 
Straits of Fuca . — There are a few fishermen about Port Townsend 
and Victoria, who fish for halibut and dogfish the greater part of the 
year. One of these, Mr. Isaac Bakman, with whom I conversed, stated 
that he did not think that halibut were ever abundant enough in the 
Straits of Fuca to warrant vessels of large size engaging in the business. 
In April, 1888, Mr. Bakman secured in different parts of the straits 
4,500 pounds of halibut, for which he received from 2 to 3 cents per 
pound. These spring fish have been very scarce, and not enough have 
been caught to pay expenses. * 
Puget Sound . — During the winter of 1888 and 1889 three men were 
occupied in Puget Sound in fishing for cod with gill nets and trawl lines. 
No large quantities of these fish were obtained, but many flounders and 
a few halibut were taken on the trawls. The fishermen claim that on the 
“dark” of the moon cod work inshore, and as it begins to grow they 
move off again into deeper water. They are captured in depths of 5 
to 100 fathoms. The deepest water in which cod gill nets have been set is 
150 fathoms, off Quartermaster Harbor, near the head of Puget Sound. 
None of the salmon canneries had commenced operations at the time 
of our arrival at Seattle. Salmon are not expected to run before the 
latter part of July or the 1st of August. Messrs. Felton and Kirk- 
wood, constituting the King County Packing Company, intended to 
put down this coming season from 8 to 12 traps, costing from $400 to 
$800 each, according to size, including the boats and all other gear. 
They also have two purse seines valued at $1,200 each. 
Beshoive or Black-Cod Fishery . — In the fall of 1888, several merchants 
of Victoria, Vancouver Island, talked of fitting out and sending ves- 
sels to the black-cod grounds off the west coast of the Queen Char- 
lotte Islands. I have received information of only one such vessel, 
which has been fishing since November, 1888, in the vicinity of Gold 
Harbor, Queen Charlotte Islands. It was stated that she had shipped 
about 70 barrels of black cod to Victoria since she began fishing. 
These fish were caught in 250 fathoms. The manner of dressing the 
black cod has not been changed during the year ; they still split them 
