FISHING VESSELS AND BOATS OF THE PACIFIC COAST. 
37 
as a rule they are steam tugs of the pattern ordinarily employed in towing merchant 
vessels, a business in which many of them engage during the portion of the year when 
the salmon fishery is not active. A number of small sailing vessels are employed on 
the Sacramento Eiver in transporting fishery products during the salmon season. They 
are not, in any sense, typical fishing vessels, though finding incidental employment in 
the fisheries for short periods. 
20. Steam fishing schooners .* — The peculiarities of climate, winds, and topography 
on the west coast, and particularly in Alaska, as well as special requirements of certain 
fisheries, render the employment of small steam fishing vessels necessary, and in some 
cases imperative. The prevalence of dense fogs in Alaskan waters throughout the 
fishing season and the vacillating character of the winds render navigation by sailing 
vessels among the numerous islands and ledges always uncertain and frequently haz- 
ardous. This, together with the fact that it is often necessary for salmon canneries to 
draw their supplies of fish from localities more or less remote, makes necessary the use 
of small auxiliary steam schooners for bringing the catch to the points where the can- 
neries are located. The elimination of any uncertainty in making passages with the 
perishable cargoes of freshly caught fish is the all-important matter, for they must 
reach their destination in good condition or be thrown away. The vessels performing 
this work must be able to make their way through the intricate channels quite regard- 
less of fogs, headwinds, or calms. 
Small auxiliary steam schooners have come into use and special favor- for this 
work. These vessels range from 16 to nearly 100 tons, net register (see plate xi). 
They vary somewhat in form and slightly in details, but nevertheless are sufficiently 
alike to be classed as one type. The typical steam fishing schoqner of the Pacific coast 
has about the same relative dimensions of hull as the clipper fishing schooner of New 
England (of the period between 1870 and 1885), which it somewhat resembles in form. 
Vessels of this class are, as a rule, very stoutly built and are fitted to stand rough 
weather. They have the reputation of being seaworthy, but owing to their small size 
and cramped quarters are rather uncomfortable at sea in a gale. They are provided 
with sufficient power to go about 6 knots an hour under steam alone. 
The following are the most noticeable features of one of these schooners, which is 
of medium size and is a fair representative of the type. She is a carvel-built, keel 
craft, provided with screw propeller and auxiliary steam power. Her bow is not very 
sharp and is somewhat flaring above water; the stem has a moderate rake, is slightly' 
recurved, with a small head ; there is a medium rise to the floor ; a rather long clean 
run, broad, elliptical stern; heavy quarters, and not very much overhang. She has 
an ordinary amount of sheer and considerable freeboard in ballast trim. The deck 
houses extend from near the taffrail to within 10 or 12 feet of the foremast, with a nar- 
row runway on each side. The pilot house is at the forward end, while the after part of 
the deck house is essentially a cabin trunk. A short distance abaft the after end of 
the cabin is the galley in which the cooking is done. The houses thus occupy a large 
part of the deck. They are strongly built and provided with stout shutters to close the 
windows in rough weather. Extending forward from the stern about 15 feet is a quarter - 
*The ketch rig, such as has been adopted by builders of steam fishing vessels in Europe, is doubt- 
less much better adapted to small auxiliary steam vessels than the schooner rig. In a paper recently 
published, entitled “Suggestions for Improvements in Vessels Employed in the Market Fishery, with 
Notes on British Fishing Steamers, etc.,” I have produced plans of British fishing steamers which 
have a rig specially well adapted to the needs of the Pacific coast. 
