The native, in his oomiaks, car
rying from two to five tons
each lighters all freight at out
lying places. White men with big
barges are trying to drive the
native off the lightering and
charge $8 in over carload lots
and $10 in under carload lots.
This should not be permitted.
International Halibut Board Hopes To Save
Northwest Industry
W. W. Jermane in Seattle Times
Lewis Radcliffe, deputy com
missioner of fisheries, has been
telling committees of Congress
about the continued unsatis
factory state of the halibut in
dustry on the North Pacific
Coast; a part of what he said
is a summing up of the situation
that will be read with interest
by many people in the Pacific
Northwest, including those not
only on the American but also
on the Canadian side of the in
ternational boundary, for their
stake in the industry is identi
cal.
Congress for a number of
3, ears has been appropriating
money sufficient to pay the ex
penses of its half of the inter
national commission, which Is
giving its best thought to the
question, and, with the aid of
a group of experts, is trying to
solve tne problem of tile dimin
ishing halibut catch. The trans
portation part of these expenses
amounted to $796.38 during the
fiscal year ending last June 30.
The commissioners, American
and Canadian, are on regular
salaries and receive nothing ad
ditional for their halibut in
vestigation.
j Each Pays Half
Each country pays half the
cost of the investigation; the
American share was $36,000 for
the last fiscal year, and not all
of it was expended. In time, Mr.
Radcliffe believes, discoveries
will be made that will preserve
the halibut industry, but he is
not willing to fix a date when he
believes this will come to pass.
■A
The American commissioners
are Commissioner Henry O’Mal
ley of the Federal Bureau of
Fisheries and Miller Freeman of
Seattle; this statement is by
way of refreshing the recollec
tion of Times readers.
Halibut fishing has been in
creasing with great intensity
for many years, and here lies
the explanation of the shortage
of the supply. In 1910 there were
in use 200,000 sets of gear; at
present the number is about a
million. Mr. Radcliffe points out
that the halibut is a slow-grow
ing fish, reaching an age of 25
3, ears or more. They are 8 to 10
years old before they spawn for
the first time. The combination
of slow growth on the part of the
fish and phenomenal expansion
of the fishing industry has re
duced the North Pacific halibut
catch to a very low stage.
Review of Conditions
The review of conditions lead
ing up to the present day should
be of interest even to those who
are more or less familiar with
what has been going on. Mr.
Radcliffe speaks with authority
on this subject. I quote him:
“The halibut fisheries con
tinue to be in a very serious
condition. They got under way
in the Pacific Northwest away
back in 1888, soon after railway
communication had been estab
lished between the northern
part of the East and the West
Coasts. At first the fishing was
conducted near Cape Flattery,
at the entrance to Juan de Fuca
Strait. It expanded rapidly
coastwise, and by 1910 was con
ducted over a territory 500 miles
long; by 1930 this had been ex
tended to a coastwise stretch of
2.000 miles, and has since then
entered Bering Sea.
Uniform Catch
“The rapid extension of the
fishery into new areas has made
it possible to maintain a vir
tually uniform catch. It is this
extension that explains the in
crease from 200,000 sets of gear
for fishing in 1910 to a million
sets in 1930. This has maintain
ed the level of production.
“The catch on the southern
grounds has fallen from 60,
000,000 pounds in 1912 to 22,
500.000 pounds in 1930. On the
newer grounds in the Gulf of
Alaska the catch has fallen
from 26,000,000 pounds in 1926
to 17,500,000 pounds in 1930. In
1906 the average catch per set
of gear was 260 pounds; in 1931
it was only 36 V2 pounds.
“In other words it took seven
sets of gear in 1931 to catch as
many fish as were taken with a
single set of gear in 1906. The
fishermen now depend on small
er fish, and as a result spawning
has virtually disappeared in the
southern grounds. The eggs or
larvae of the young are also
virtually absent in these areas.
These conditions well illustrate
the seriousness of the situation
confronting this fishery, which
formerly yielded from 50,000,000
to 55,000,000 pounds of fish a
year, valued at about $7,000,000
dollars.
“Because of the rapid decline