Statement of Mr. H. E. Lokken,
Representing Fishing Vessels
Association, Seattle
Mr. Lokken. The Association
that I represent consists of the
halibut fishing vessel owners of
the Pacific Coast, and I am here
to say that our association is fa
vorable to the present tariff of
2 cents a pound on halibut, but
we oppose any change in the pre
sent system whereby our fish is
landed at Prince Rupert, British
Columbia, and then shipped in
bond to the United States, free
tf duty.
We have been told that repre
sentatives from Ketchikan, Alas
ka, were to appear before the
committee and ask that a duty
of 2 cents a pound be placed on
all American fish that is landed
in a foreign port and then ship
ped into the United States.
This proposal, if accepted by
the committee and if passed,
will be ruinous to the halibut
fleet. At the present time the
halibut banks, where the fish are
caught are located 700 miles
from Prince Rupert and we must
take advantage of the facilities
offered in Prince Rupert in ship
ping our fish into the United
States.
The Ketchikan men propose
that the halibut shall be landed
at Ketchikan instead of at
I'rince Rupert. But if it is land
ed at Ketchikan, it will have to
be shipped from Ketchikan to
Prince Rupert and unloaded at
Prince Rupert again and placed
in the refrigerator cars and then
shipped into the United States.
It means additional handling. It
will mean a lesser price paid to
the fishermen.
At the present time the house
wife is paying a price for hall
-A
but that is so high that she
would not care to pay any more.
Thirty-five cents a pound is be
ing paid for halibut right here
in Washington, and rather than
pay any more, the housewife
would turn to some other kind
of fish to some other product... .
Because of the dangerous
character of water between Ket
chikan and Prince Rupert, ade
quate transportation facilities
between the two ports is not
feasible.
The fish if shipped in the
manner that Ketchikan men
propose would be inferior to the
product that is now being sold.
The 700-mile journey that the
halibut fisherman has to take
from the Banks to Prince Rupert
is about all that the fish can
stand, and if the fish were un
loaded at Ketchikan, they would
be boxed at Ketchikan and
transferred from cold storage, or
the place where the fish is boxed
to a fishing steamer and would
be exposed to the warm air and
would result in deterioration.
Then, after the 90-mile journ
ey to Prince Rupert, the fish
would again be exposed to the
air in the process of taking them
from the refrigerator steamer to
the railroad car, and this addi
tional handling would so deteri
orate the fish that they would
not receive the price paid for the
fish from other localities.
If the proposed change is
granted, it would increase the
competition of Canadian and
Japanese fish.
At the present time the Amer
ican halibut fleet lands approxi
mately 44,000,000 pounds of hali
out per year and the Canadian
halibut fishermen land about 9,
J00,000 pounds a year.
If this measure is allowed to
go through, it will mean that the
halibut fishermen will receive
less for their fish, and some of
them will be forced to suspend
operations; they will not be able
to operate, and as a result, the
Canadian fleet will increase.
At the present time we are wit
nessing the entry of Japan into
the fish markets of the United
States. They have extensive
banks along their coasts, and in
the last 2 years have shipped
their product into this country
in a frozen state. Any curtail
ment of operations of the halibut
fleet of the United States will
result in much more Japanese
halibut coming in. At present
our fleet investment is over $1,
500,000.
Mr. Hadley. They are indi
vidual independent operators,
who have an association to
which they belong?
Mr. Lokken. Yes, sir.
Mr. Hadley. And you say there
are 2,500—
Mr. Lokken. Fishermen .
Mr. Hadley. What are the op
portunities for source of supply
for the American fishermen?
Mr. Lokken. Where they catch
their fish?
Mr. Hadley. Yes.
Mr. Lokken. They can catch
their fish in Alaskan waters, or
in waters from northern Calif
ornia clear to Bering Sea.
Mr. Hadley. Is there an un
limited supply?
Mr. Lokken. No, sir; there is
not. Years ago fishing was con