John Nathan Cobb - Into The Commercial World

Into The Commercial World

In the spring of 1912, Cobb joined the Union Fish Company in San Francisco in a management position at a considerable increase in salary. The company fished for Pacific cod in Alaska, and Cobb traveled north on the company boats, the Union Jack in 1912 and the Sequoia in 1913, operating out of Sand Point and Unga, Alaska. Cobb’s experience with the Union Fish Company was not satisfactory, as he apparently was not granted the freedom to manage as he had hoped, and he left the company on good terms in November 1913.

Cobb sought to improve his position, as he continually did, and in November 1913 the commercial fishing trade magazine Pacific Fisherman, based in Seattle, hired him, although at a significantly lower salary than that paid by the Union Fish Company. In his letter of acceptance, Cobb agreed to move to Seattle about 15 November 1913 and to accept a salary of $40 a week "for the present." His salary at the Union Fish Company was $200 a month. This monthly publication was the preeminent voice for the fishing industry of the west coast. He was hired as the editor of the journal and his particular experience in fisheries for the Bureau of Fisheries and the Union Fish Company brought rare skills to the magazine. The owner of the periodical, Leigh Miller Freeman (1875‒1955), became a power in the commercial fisheries industry and in fisheries conservation efforts. The Pacific Fisherman was a large format magazine devoted to all aspects of the fishing industry on the west coast. It paid particular attention to fishing developments in Alaska, and Cobb’s experience in that territory was likely valuable to the magazine.

Cobb remained with the magazine for four years. During this period, he established himself as an informed observer of the commercial fishing and fisheries scenes. As editor, Cobb most likely had wide latitude over what was published in the journal. He wrote articles that appeared in the journal under his byline, such as "Utilizing waste products in the salmon industry" and "New methods in Pacific coast fisheries." Cobb also wrote for the scientific world, publishing in professional journals. An example of the latter includes "Pacific halibut fishery declining," published in the Transactions of the American Fisheries Society. During his years with the periodical he published one book Pacific Cod Fisheries, a revised edition of which was issued in 1927, and in 1917 he published a revised version of his book, Pacific Salmon Fisheries.

In Seattle in 1914, Cobb also helped found the Pacific Fisheries Society. Patterned after the American Fisheries Society, the new organization was directed toward the interests of fisheries workers, mainly scientific but also for members of the commercial industry of the U.S. west coast. Active membership in this new organization enabled Cobb to meet and to socialize with the leading men in both the scientific and commercial aspects of the Pacific coast fisheries. He longed, however, for a return to the Bureau of Fisheries. But a position with the latter agency was not forthcoming, so in 1917 he joined the Alaska Packers Association (APA) of San Francisco, California, at a salary nearly twice what he was receiving from the Pacific Fisherman. The Association was the largest and most influential commercial fishing enterprise in Alaska. At that time the APA operated the most fishing boats, employed the most workers, and canned the most salmon of any Alaska cannery. His move to the APA seemed part of his continuous desire to improve his status, economic and otherwise.

During the salmon fishing season in Alaska in the summers of 1917 and 1918, Cobb traveled north to visit the various APA concerns. His work involved inspecting the working and sanitary conditions in the canneries. Because of his previous work in Alaska with the Bureau of Fisheries, Cobb was familiar with most of the APA packing operations there. He was apparently satisfied with his work with the APA, but he again sought another position of advancement. Cobb’s experience in the fisheries of Alaska, his former position at the Pacific Fisherman, and his involvement with the Pacific Fisheries Society placed him at the forefront of a burgeoning movement to establish a "school of fisheries" at the University of Washington. He was not an unwitting observer of this movement. Indeed, he kept his name always fresh to the University administration and the result was that Cobb resigned from the APA in January 1919 to accept the founding directorship of the College of Fisheries at the University of Washington. This new position would serve him well and allow him to use his diverse talents in the fisheries field.