U. S. FISHERY STEAMER "ALBATROSS" AT ANCHORAGE IN RESURRECTION BAY, 

 ALASKA, WHILE ENGAGED IN INSPECTION WORK 



The United States annually takes from the waters of Alaska fish valued at more than three 

 times the price we paid for that wonderful territory (see text, page 557) 



Some years later, when the Gulf 

 Stream was still "oft" soundings," investi- 

 gation showed that it was approaching 

 the coast, and the prediction was made 

 that about 1892 it would again be flowing 

 over the grounds on which the tilefish 

 had once abounded. 



The prediction was verified, and it is 

 noteworthy that in the year named, after 

 ten years of persistent search, during 

 which not a single specimen was found, 

 the Bureau's schooner Grampus caught 

 a few tilefish in the old haunts. Evi- 

 dently a remnant had survived, probably 

 far to the south, and the fish had grad- 

 ually worked back to the region formerly 

 frequented. From that time on the spe- 

 cies quickly reestablished itself and soon 

 became apparently as numerous as ever, 

 so that today it occurs in great abundance 

 along the 100- fathom line from a point 

 south of the Nantucket Shoals lightship 

 to a point southeast of Atlantic City and 

 possibly much farther south. 



Believing that the food qualities, ac- 

 cessibility, and abundance of the tilefish 

 warranted an attempt to establish for it 

 a commercial fishery, the Bureau of Fish- 

 eries, in October, 191 5, undertook the 

 triple task of inducing the fishermen to 

 catch the fish, the dealers to handle it, 

 and the public to buy and eat it. 



So successful were these efforts that, 

 within one month of the date when the 

 demonstration was begun, the Bureau 

 was able to withdraw from the field and 

 turn the project over to the commercial 

 interests. A regular fishery has been in- 

 augurated by Massachusetts, New York, 

 and New Jersey vessels, of which more 

 than twenty have been engaged at one 

 time; and up to June 1, 191 6, or in less 

 than seven months, over 1, 700 tons of 

 tilefish, yielding the fishermen more than 

 $200,000, had been caught and sold, 

 chiefly in New York City, whence the 

 product has been distributed over a large 

 area, extending as far west as Chicago 



574 



