130 
BULLETIN OF THE UNITED STATES FISH COMMISSION. 
The explorations which the Albatross has been conducting on the Pacific coast, 
and which it is intended shall be continued to the extent of making known at least 
all the more important fishery resources of that region within the limits of the United 
States, are especially noteworthy from the fact that they constitute an innovation in 
the support given by government to the development of this particular industry. 
No foreign nation has ever attempted, on more than a very limited scale, to enlighten 
the fishermen respecting the character, distribution, and abundance along its coasts 
of the aquatic forms of life which are the objects of their pursuit. The United States 
was the first to institute systematic inquiries of this nature, in connection with the 
work of the Fish Commission along the Atlantic coast, and, although the fisheries had 
been carried on there assiduously for several centuries, the value of scientific research 
in extending the areas of productive fishing-grounds was conclusively established. 
In the new field presented by the North Pacific Ocean, however, so little information 
had previously been collected that it was necessary to begin at the very rudiments 
of the problem, as explained before, and the investigations have been of the most 
searching and comprehensive character. 
The conduct of these inquiries have been in charge of Commander Z. L. Tanner, 
U. S. N., the commanding officer of the Albatross , whose long connection with the Fish 
Commission especially qualified him for this important task. Having been closely 
identified with all of the oceanic work since 1879, and thoroughly appreciating the 
objects to be attained, his services have been invaluable. In the hydrographic and 
physical observations he has had the assistance of the naval officers detailed to the ship. 
On the voyage from Norfolk to San Francisco, the civilian scientific staff consisted of 
Prof. Leslie A. Lee, of Bowdoin College (in charge), Mr. Charles H. Townsend, Mr. 
Thomas Lee, and Mr. Dennis M. Cole. Since that time, however, Mr. Charles H. 
Townsend has acted as resident naturalist, Mr. A. B. Alexander as fishery expert, and 
Mr. N. B. Miller as assistant naturalist. Prof. Charles H. Gilbert, now of the Leland 
Stanford Junior University, also accompanied the Albatross, as ichthyologist and chief 
naturalist, from January to August, 1889, and during the Bering Sea cruise of 1890. 
The movements of the Albatross. — Leaving Norfolk, Va., on November 21, 1887, 
the Albatross began the voyage to San Francisco, which terminated on May 11, 1888. 
Agreeably to the plans proposed by Prof. Baird before his death, the commanding 
officer was directed to make occasional dredgings, and hydrographic examinations on 
the way, and to afford such opportunities as time permitted for studying the local 
fisheries and other matters of scientific interest at each port of call, as well as at the 
Galapagos Islands off the coast of Ecuador. On the Atlantic side stops were made 
at Santa Lucia, one of the West Indies, Bahia, Brazil, and Montevideo, Uruguay. 
Scientific observations were conducted at frequent intervals during the passage 
through the Strait of Magellan, and the ship proceeded thence to Lota, Chile, and 
Panama. From the latter place the Galapagos Islands were visited, and subse- 
quently Guaymas and La Paz, Mexico. 
Having perfected the arrangements for a northern cruise, the Albatross sailed 
from San Francisco on July 4, 1888, for the Alaskan coast, where, during two months, 
the fishing-banks south of the Alaska Peninsula and adjacent islands, between Una- 
laska and Middleton Island, were made the subject of careful study. The balance 
of this season was spent on the coasts of Washington and Oregon. The local 
fisheries in the neighborhood of Seattle were investigated during the early part of 
