The Tacoma Fishing Fleet's Diplomatic War
Tacoma’s Chamber of Commerce takes on the British Empire to protect local halibut profits in the Hecate Strait.
The story, cleaned up
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The Tacoma Chamber of Commerce has started something with that pugnacious individual known as John Bull. Dispatches from Washington announce that the secretary of state has sent to the British ambassador a letter calling attention to a situation concerning the fisheries in Hecate Strait and Dixon Entrance. This action was due to resolutions sent by the Tacoma Chamber of Commerce in an effort to protect local fishermen. The Dominion government recently got the weird idea that it owned the whole Hecate Strait, which is 28 miles wide at its narrowest point and is the favored fishing ground of Tacoma vessels. They took a million pounds of halibut out of there last year, but the Britishers recently ordered the steamer 'Edith' to quit fishing there and announced that all American fishermen were to be stopped. The Chamber of Commerce protested to Congress and the President, demanding protection for Tacoma fishermen, and the Secretary of State has now taken the matter up.
“With true John Bull proclivities, the Dominion government recently got the weird idea that it owned the whole Hecate Strait.”
Long before modern battles over maritime borders and territorial waters, Tacoma's commercial interests were already projecting power across the Pacific to secure their supply chains. The conflict highlights the city's historical role as a hub for the North Pacific fishing industry, a legacy that remains tied to regional economic and political tensions today.
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