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VESSEL FISHING.

The following fleet of 10 vessels, with headquarters in California and Washington, fished in Alaskan waters this year:

The vessels from Washington operating in Alaskan waters caught 1,101,000 fish, with a cured weight of 5,378,000 pounds, valued at $161,340, while those from California caught 466,000 fish, with a cured weight of 2,330,000 pounds, valued at $69,900.

HALIBUT FISHERY.

GENERAL CONDITIONS.

A large part of the halibut taken from the waters of Alaska and adjacent offshore grounds are landed directly in the home ports without entering any Alaskan port. No statistics for this catch have been compiled, and the figures in the following tables pertain entirely to the inshore fishery or fish landed in and shipped from Alaskan ports.

Most of the fishing done by Alaskan vessels is prosecuted from September to May, but during the last few years a number of vessels and boats have fished continuously throughout the year for the freezing plants of southeast Alaska. During the winter season the greater part of the catch is shipped fresh to Puget Sound ports, whence it is distributed throughout the country.

Several vessels from the Juneau fleet fished in the spring on an ocean bank about 15 miles west of Lisianski Strait, southeast Alaska. This is thought to be a good-sized bank, and the halibut appear to be fairly numerous.

During the summer the Bureau of Fisheries steamer Albatross surveyed the known halibut banks in the north Pacific Ocean and in Bering Sea, and also prospected for new banks. The results of this work have been published as Bureau of Fisheries Document 763.

None of the data relating to this fleet appears in the statistical tables.

The Taku Canning & Cold Storage Co., which operates a salmon cannery at Taku Harbor, southeast Alaska, canned some halibut this year. The Revilla Fish Products Co. of Ketchikan expects to engage regularly in canning halibut next season.

In previous years halibut were taken in the waters of central Alaska for local consumption only. This year the schooner Metha Nelson, which was operated as a floating freezer, put up, in addition to other species, some frozen halibut.

As heretofore, the halibut fleet was very much hampered in its operations by the lack of bait during the winter months. At this season, owing to the inclement weather which prevents the bait fishermen from working and the scarcity of herring, fresh bait is difficult to procure and vessels are frequently laid up for days at a time waiting for this necessary article. Salt bait is used when absolutely necessary, but it has never proved very successful.

The most feasible method for overcoming this condition of affairs would be the establishment of small freezers at Juneau, Hoonah or Killisnoo, Scow Bay or Petersburg, Wrangell, and Ketchikan, where herring received from the fishermen during the summer and early fall, when most abundant, could be frozen and stored until needed in the late fall and winter. The New England Fish Co., at its Ketchikan plant, freezes a large quantity of herring each year, which supplies bait to its own vessels and to the small vessels which deliver their catches of halibut to its plant.

STATISTICS.

During the year there were 651 persons employed in all branches of the industry. The total investment was $1,194,073. The prepared weight of the catch amounted to 17,315,171 pounds; which sold for $822,362, a small increase in the total over 1910, but a slight decrease in the output of southeast Alaska. There was a slight falling off in the number of vessel fishermen, while there was little over half the number of shore fishermen employed. With this may be noted a marked decrease in the number of small launches, bringing about a slightly smaller total investment in the fishery in spite of a heavier valuation of the larger vessels and shore property. In this connection it should be stated that the shipments reported by the Puget Sound fleet operating in Alaska fell from 3,531,644 pounds in 1910 to 2,399,379 pounds in 1911. These figures may indicate the beginning of a depletion of the southeast Alaska inshore halibut banks. Central Alaska this year furnished 89,479 pounds, the first product of the western banks.

PERSONS ENGAGED (EXCEPT ON STEAMERS) IN THE ALASKA HALIBUT FISHERIES

INVESTMENT (EXCEPT STEAMERS) IN THE ALASKA HALIBUT FISHERIES IN 1911.

PRODUCTS (EXCEPT FROM STEAMERS) OF THE ALASKA HALIBUT FISHERIES IN 1911.

PUGET SOUND FISHING FLEET.

A fleet of Puget Sound power vessels visits southeast Alaska during the months from October to March, when, owing to stormy weather and a scarcity of fish, it is not safe nor profitable to visit the banks near the home ports. This fleet makes its headquarters at Petersburg, Juneau, and Ketchikan, shipping the catch home from these places via the regular steamship lines. As a result of its operations in Alaska the fleet (with the exception of the steamers) caught and shipped 2,399,379 dressed pounds of fresh halibut, valued at $118,488. The steamers carry their own catches to the sound ports, and these have not been included in the above amount. During the summer months most of this fleet fishes on the Flattery Banks off the State of Washington, or the banks off the British Columbia coast. None of these data are included in the statistical tables of this report.

HERRING FISHERY.

GENERAL CONDITIONS.

The partial failure of the British Columbia herring fisheries during 1910 and 1911 brought to the fore the abundant supplies of Alaska herring. As a result several new plants for the preparation of herring for food were established in southeast Alaska, and the pack prepared very materially exceeded that of any other year.

One result of this increase in the number of herring plants has been the introduction of Japanese fishermen. Under the provisions of the act to prevent aliens from fishing in the waters of Alaska, Japanese can not fish independently, but it is an easy matter to secure the aid of some venal Americans who will pose as stockholders and thus secure an American incorporation, or pose as the owners of the plant, and thus legalize the employment of Japanese (who are the real owners) as fishermen and shore employees.

The experience of British Columbia with Japanese fishermen has been a most unfortunate one, and the same may be said of our own territory of Hawaii. British Columbia is now endeavoring to solve the problem, and as two of the three coast States have already imposed serious restrictions, the Japanese fishermen are seeking to establish themselves in Alaska. Unless radical measures are soon taken American fishermen will find serious difficulty in competing with the Japanese, while the fisheries will undoubtedly suffer as a result of the latter's destructive methods.

For a number of years a large plant for the preparation of oil and fertilizer from herring and other fishes has been operated at Killisnoo, in southeast Alaska. During the same period other plants were established and operated for a season or two at various places in the

same section of the District, but these have been discontinued. The company at present operating was organized in 1889, but the industry is reported to have been pursued without substantial returns until 1909, 20 years later. Now that the herring of Puget Sound and British Columbia waters are less abundant, the herring of Alaska are being looked to to supply the deficit, and it is hoped that the next few years may witness a great expansion of the industry in our waters. The chief demand is from the Orient.

As in other places, the herring of Alaska vary considerably in size, and so far from being a handicap, as is now claimed by some, this should eventually prove one of the most valuable features of the industry by permitting diversity in utilization. In Maine, where the preparation of herring for food has been brought to a high state of perfection, every size is put to a commercial use. The smaller ones are canned as sardines, while the medium and larger sizes are pickled and smoked. At the present time Alaska pickled herring commands as good a price as the corresponding grade of Atlantic herring.

During July and August the herring of southeast Alaska, and possibly other sections of the District, feed quite largely upon small crustaceans known as "red feed". If the fish is killed when its stomach is filled with the "red feed" the flesh rapidly decomposes, especially the belly, and it presents such a poor appearance when pickled that its value is seriously depreciated. This same trouble is met with wherever the sea herring is caught. In Maine it is not a serious matter, as most of the herring are caught in weirs in which the fish can be retained until they have digested the food. If traps were used in Alaska during July and August for the capture of herring, the fish could easily be held alive in the same manner as in the weirs and this handicap thus be overcome. During the rest of the year its food does not affect its preservation unfavorably.

An interesting report has recently been made by the American consul at Stavanger, Norway, on the herring industry of that country, published in the Daily Consular and Trade Reports for April 9, 1912. It is therein stated that further investment is being made in small plants to produce herring flour and oil. The flour or meal is the product from the solid portion of the fish after the oil is expressed. It is used as feed for cattle and hogs as well as for fertilizer. The oil is much used in paints as a substitute for linseed oil. The establishment of these plants is strongly urged to enable use to be made of the surplus fish which can not be marketed as food. Under present conditions the markets are overstocked and often large quantities of fresh herring shipped to England are thrown overboard and wasted for want of a market.