Evening star., 1940-08-18
Northwest Revives
HaIibut Industry
Aided by Science
More Fish Now Being
Caught in Less Time
With Less Equipment
BY HOWARD w. BLAKESLEE,
Associated Press Science Editor.

by HO" ARD w. DLhhLSLLLs
Associated Press Science Editor.
SEATTLE, Wash, Aug. ia
sign of the social-economic future
rides the Pacific Ocean on our
coast.
Here they are doing less fishing.
but catching more fish. Less work.
more food.
The fish, moreover, are increas-
ing in numbers. The outlook Is
for a still larger food supply, from
less and less human labor,
This is not due to the speed up
of machines, but to vast expert.
ment in biology. the first Of its
kind. Science and society. for one
of the few times in mans long eco
nomic struggle, have Joined hands
to cooperate, on an international
scale.
The biological fishing experiment
Is with halibut, giant cousin of sole
and founder. Halibut fishing. one
of the northwest's great natural
resources, went the ruinous way Of
nearly all resources.
Restocking Impossible.
Science at first helped in this
destruction, with more power and
more apparatus to fish faster and
farther. The take of halibut was
at the ruin point when science, gov
ernment and the fishing fleets
joined hands. The International
Fish Commission Of the United
States and Canada was formed.
Science was called on TO provide
practicable formula. The result
was unique.
Restocking the sea is not possible.
Experience said that less fish must
be caught to enable the halbut
to multiply again. The unusual way
in which this is being done is told
here at the University of Washing
ton. by staff headed by DR. William
F. Thompson, director of the SCI
entific work done by the Interna-
tional Fisheries Commission and
Director of the School of Fisheries.
and by the reports of the commits
sioners. These were J. P. Babcock,
w. A. Found, Miller Freeman, Henry
OMalley and F. T. Bell. They are
now Edward w. Allen. A. J. Whit
more, Charles E. jackson and L. w.
Patmore. Half are Canadian, half
American.
The scientists started by studying
the then unknown life of the hail.
but They learned by his ear bones
that this fish lives Is to 80 years.
That he grows very slowly. That
female at IL years of age will spawn
only 100000 to 100000 eggs, but that
at over 20 she may lay 3,50000o.
Few Fish Migrate.
One fact of special Importance
was that although halibut live
from Alaska to California, they are
not all one family. Each group of
halibut has its own area. Few
migrate and possibly none of that
community breed elsewhere.
Therefore. when one bank, or
area, is fiShed out, it is ruined, and
the ruin, for commercial purposes.
is complete Power fleets took only
two years to ruin bank on the
Oregon Washington coasts.
In deep sea fishing it is not enough
to throw back the little ones. The
scientific commission added some
thing new This new thing was to
use less fishing gear After a year
or so of smaller catches, as result
of less gear, it was found that this
reduced gear was taking as many
pounds of fish as formerly was
taken by the whole.
Less and less gear was required
to take this poundage. The feet
was not allowed to go beyond the
limit until the supply had increased
to desired extent.
Less Time Required.
After a year or two the boats were
getting their limit in much less
fishing time. The regulation Of in
dividual vessels was by voluntary
cooperation.
But taking the catch in so much
less time opened a human social
problem, that of work for the men.
The commission was able to give
larger limits but even so the boats
could get their limits In few
months of the year.
This meant either the spectre Of
intermittent employment. or spread
ing the work by longer intervals be-
tween trips.
The solution was intermittent
trips. 1t appears to work well for
both fish and men.
Japan is Big Question.
The banks" the commission re-
ported, "are being restocked without
depicting the catch"
There are apparent complica-
tions ahead. Japan is not in the
agreement. The big question arises.
is her power fleet able to cross the
Pacific profitably? Much of the
halibut area is we'll offshore outside
the traditional territorial waters in
the narrow sense of the term. Does
such a narrow limit have validity
in the present phase of a warlike
world?
America and Canada think OF the
halibut fishery as their resource.
built up and conserved just as one
would care for farm or forest.
What can be done about It?