John Nathan Cobb : founding Director of the College of Fisheries, University of Washington, Seattle

Marine Fisheries Review, Summer, 2003 by J. Richard Dunn

Cobb also wrote for the scientific world, publishing in professional journals. An example of the latter includes "Pacific halibut fishery declining" (Cobb, 1915c), published in the Transactions of the American Fisheries Society. During his years with the periodical he published one book Pacific Cod Fisheries (Cobb, 1916b), a revised edition of which was issued in 1927, and in 1917 he published a revised version of his book, Pacific Salmon Fisheries (Cobb, 1917). (22)

Cobb helped found the Pacific Fisheries Society in Seattle in 1914. 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 (Anonymous, 1914a, d). The Society produced an annual publication, at least in 1914 and 1915, titled Transactions of the Pacific Fisheries Society (with Cobb as editor and publisher), in which Cobb published articles (e.g. Cobb 1915b, 1916a). Cobb was Secretary of the organization in 1914-15 and President in 1921 and 1923. 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 (Fig. 5). (23)

[FIGURE 5 OMITTED]

Although successful as an editor, Cobb entertained visions of returning to work for the Bureau of Fisheries. In May 1914, the U.S. Bureau of Fisheries Commissioner Hugh McCormick Smith telegraphed Cobb asking whether or not he could take a temporary job with the Bureau to investigate salmon fishing conditions in Siberia. Cobb was apparently unable to accept the offer, likely due to his current job. However, he wrote to Smith indicating his interest in heading the Seattle office of the agency. Smith offered Cobb the requested position in November 1914 and asked when he might begin work. Cobb responded, the "quicker the better." (24) Cobb was advised by an official of the Bureau, however, that the Secretary of Commerce, William Cox Redfield (1858-1932), was "opposed to the appointment of any person connected with a trade journal or with any fishing company or organization." (25) Cobb then withdrew his name from consideration to avoid embarrassment for Commissioner Smith. (26)

Cobb, in early 1916, was then offered a position as General Superintendent with the Alaska Packers Association (APA) of San Francisco, Calif., 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 (Cooley, 1963). At that time APA operated the most fishing boats, employed the most workers, and canned the most salmon of any Alaska cannery. Cobb considered the potential of the position but, at the same time, longed for a return to the Bureau of Fisheries. A position with the latter agency was not forthcoming and, by the time Cobb responded affirmatively to the company, the position at APA had been filled. The position again became available in early 1917 and this time Cobb accepted the offer. Cobb signed a 5-year contract with APA to begin work on 29 January 1917. The terms of the contract allowed Cobb to resign his position within five years if the management of APA, to whom he was reporting, changed during his employment with the firm. (27) Cobb resigned from the Pacific Fisherman on 26 January 1917 to accept the position with APA. (28) His move to APA seemed part of Iris continuous desire to improve his status, economic and otherwise.