FISHERIES OF ALASKA IN 1909. 
51 
been reported in varying* abundance from nearly every section. 
Recent information is to the effect that edible crabs of a fine variety 
are caught around King Island, a small island in Bering Strait. 
Heretofore the catching and marketing of crabs has been carried 
on in a desultory fashion at a few places in southeast Alaska and 
in Prince William Sound, but none were shipped out of the dis- 
trict. This summer one of the Puget Sound dealers, whose sales 
had been considerably curtailed owing to the inadequacy of the 
supply from Washington waters and the close season which prevails 
part of the year, visited Wrangell, Ketchikan, and Juneau, in south- 
east Alaska, and interested the local dealers and fishermen in the 
business to the extent that several of them took it up. 
The crab pots are of varying sizes and shapes. At Wrangell a 
rectangular pot of wooden framework is used, about 40 inches long, 
18 inches high, and 30 inches wide, with 3^-inch stretch mesh net 
covering. The tunnels, of which there is one at each end, are 7 inches 
in width and 5 inches in height. At Ketchikan a circular pot is used, 
about 3 feet in diameter and 18 inches in height, with two opposite 
tunnels. The Juneau crab men use a pot similar to the Wrangell 
variety. These pots cost the fishermen about $1.25 each. 
The pots are set on trawls, about 25 or 30 to a trawl. Each is 
attached to a gangion about 5 fathoms long, thus permitting the rais- 
ing and emptying of the pot without bringing up the trawl itself. 
The trawls are marked by buoys and held by anchors. On some of 
the trawls baited hooks are placed between the gangions for the pur- 
pose of catching bait for the pots. All sorts of fish, clams, etc., are 
used as bait. 
Crabs from 6 inches up in size are utilized for shipping. The 
shippers classify them by weight and size as follows : Medium aver- 
age, 1^ pounds; large average, 2^ pounds; large, 2J to 3J pounds. 
The fishermen in the Wrangell district received 75 cents per dozen 
for 6-inch crabs (which average from to 2 pounds each), and 
$1.10 per dozen for 6^-inch and larger crabs. The crabs are meas- 
ured the broad way of the back. The freight to Seattle is $7.50 per 
measured ton, which would include 35 dozens of crabs. If placed 
in the cold-storage compartments the rate is $15 per ton. The crabs 
are packed in wooden boxes holding about 15J dozens each. At first 
all were shipped alive, packed in seaweed, but so many died on the 
way or arrived in bad condition that finally all were boiled before 
being shipped. These arrived on Puget Sound in excellent condi- 
tion. A large number were also marketed locally, while a few were 
shipped to points in the Northwest Territory along the line of the 
White Pass Railway. 
