Digital Bob Archive

Catching the fish and bringing them to Juneau was only one of the problems that faced local halibut fishermen in the early years of the century. They understood how to cope with tides and weather, even the severe winter weather of those years, but were often vexed by the problem of getting their fish to a market that would pay them enough for a living for themselves and families.

It was reported in 1910 that 65 percent of all halibut shipped from Alaska went to the Atlantic Coast and 30 percent to the Midwest. At very best that meant a couple of weeks from the time the fish left Juneau until they reached the jobber in Chicago or New York. On top of that, the halibut might have been a week or longer in the hold of the fishing boat. It often added up to fish that were verging on being unsaleable.

The ideal was good fishing and fast trips, but that was difficult in predominantly winter fishing. It was dory fishing, with short days and, more often than not, freezing weather. The only artificial light available was a smoky lantern. The halibut skipper had to keep close track of the few steamers that ran in the winter. If he was even half an hour late getting into Juneau he had literally missed the boat and often that meant the catch was thrown overboard.

One of the reasons that it was mostly winter fishing was the steamers themselves. A few had very limited refrigeration in one or two small lockers, but in summer perishable shipments had to take their chances. Also, in summer the steamers made numerous cannery stops, thus prolonging the voyage. All in all, shipping fresh fish from Juneau to Seattle during the summers in those years was just about out of the question.

Once the halibuter got to town with his catch, he had to rustle up shipping boxes and ice for repacking the fish. The ice was floating around, free, but at times it had to be chased far down the channel. Then it had to be chopped and mashed to bits. The big boxes, weighing around 550 pounds when filled, were a problem for a time until the local sawmill began cutting them to size. A local man, Oliver Drange, opened a buying station at the foot of Main Street but many fishermen preferred to ship their own fish and take chances on the market.

By 1909 some 30 boats with at least 120 men were fishing halibut out of Juneau and that year a total of 2000 boxes were shipped to Seattle from here- around a million pounds. The Juneau Commercial Club woke up to the importance of the fishery in the local economy and the City Council was persuaded to put a hoist and a mechanical ice chipper on the city dock. These greatly facilitated the work of shipping fresh fish, but by 1912 the need for a local cold storage was apparent. Ketchikan had one and there was talk of one to be built at Sitka. It was time for Juneau entrepreneurs to get busy.