Puget Sound's Fishing Future, Blocked by Ice and Freight
A federal fisheries report praises the region's deep harbors and salmon runs, but explains why deep-sea halibut and cod fishing has failed to pay—and what it will take to change that.
The story, cleaned up
A cleaned-up reading of the newspaper page: spelling and layout repaired, one story lifted off a crowded page. It follows the original closely but it is not a transcription. The original page is below; read it if a detail matters.
Hon. Marshall McDonald, commissioner of fish and fisheries, in a recent report speaking of Puget Sound and vicinity says:
From the standpoint of the fisheries this region seems to have exceptional geographical advantages. The Strait of Fuca affords an excellent entrance from the Pacific to Puget Sound, Washington Sound and the Gulf of Georgia. Puget Sound is one of the most remarkable waterways in the United States. Its deep and well-sheltered channels extend long distances inland, affording easy communication to an immense coast line. There is no lack of good harbors, where fishing fleets may lie in safety and where curing and packing houses may be established. This region is comparatively near the Alaskan fishing grounds, and important halibut banks are in the vicinity.
Cities and towns are rapidly growing in population and importance, and, considering present railroad transportation facilities and the prospect of their extension, this seems to be a favored region for prosecuting the sea fisheries of the Pacific. Indeed, Puget Sound, Washington Sound and the Strait of Juan de Fuca are themselves valuable fishing grounds.
The fishing centers of this region, in the order of their importance as such, are Seattle, Port Townsend, Tacoma, Neah Bay, Dungeness and Olympia.
A large majority of the fishermen are engaged in the coast or shore fishery. They are very cosmopolitan, representing eleven countries in addition to the Indians.
The fur seal is one of the most important of the objects of Puget Sound fisheries. It arrives off Cape Flattery in the spring and is followed during its migration northward until it reaches Bering sea. The fur-sealing season was formerly closed in June. It is now continued much later.
Of the fish taken the salmon and halibut are first in importance. Other fish found are flounders of many varieties, herring, smelt, cod, cultus cod, black cod, red cod, rock fish, black bass, tom cod, dog fish, sardines, salmon trout and a few shad.
Numerous halibut banks exist, and this fish can usually be taken off Cape Flattery throughout the summer season, though it is frequently necessary to seek it at a more distant locality.
The salmon is the most important of all Puget Sound fish. The principal species taken in this region are the 'humpback,' 'silver' and 'jack,' or 'tyee,' which is the king salmon of California, and the Chinook salmon of the Columbia river. The red salmon, called the 'sockeye' here, is the most abundant species at the northern part of this region, where also the steelhead occurs in small numbers.
The jack salmon begins to run in August and remains until October. It averages eleven pounds, though on some of the rivers, notably the Skagit, it may average twenty pounds and attain a maximum of fifty pounds. The silver salmon arrives in September and remains until November. It averages about seven and one-half pounds.
The humpback is found from July 15 to August 15, but is not abundant. The 'sockeye' run is usually from early in July to September.
The dog salmon comes in the fall. It is not considered fit for canning, but the Indians prefer it for drying.
Puget Sound is also represented by crabs, shrimps, cockles, oysters and clams.
The commissioner's report shows that in 1888 1,068 persons and a capital of $265,750 were employed in Puget Sound fisheries, and the product for that year had a value of $185,138.
The salmon fishery and the supplying of fish to local markets that year proved a success. But the deep sea fishery for halibut and cod, which should be an important industry here, could not be made to pay, although it received a thorough trial by experienced men in vessels brought from the New England coast for the purpose. The causes for this failure are shown to be, first, insufficient local demand; second, lack of railroad facilities at lower Sound ports, causing great loss of time in working vessels to Seattle or else heavy towage bills; third, the great cost of ice; fourth, high freights to the Eastern markets; fifth, lack of curing facilities here. The first of these is gradually being remedied by increase in the population. The second can be done away with by the use of steam fishing vessels until such time as a railroad reaches points on the Strait. The third is not so easy to deal with, but it seems reasonable to believe that competition in transportation and manufacturing will bring the cost of ice within the price which fishermen can afford. The fourth is becoming of less consequence with each new freight schedule, and the fifth only requires experience and a little capital to remove it. In conclusion, it cannot be very long before the experiment made by Captains Jacobs and Brown will be again tried under more favorable conditions, and we may hope to yet see the deep sea fisheries of Puget Sound classed among her great industries.
“The causes for this failure are shown to be, first, insufficient local demand; second, lack of railroad facilities at lower Sound ports... third, the great cost of ice; fourth, high freights to the Eastern markets; fifth, lack of curing facilities here.”
The 1893 report reads like a modern economic development study: the region has natural advantages, but cold-chain logistics, freight costs, and local demand determine whether an industry thrives. Puget Sound's fisheries still face many of the same questions—how to add value locally, keep fishing families afloat, and manage a resource that crosses borders and ecosystems.
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