April 16, 1957
THE FISHERMAN
Page 5
Hugh Mclnnis Tells of Shipwrecks
Picture of 'Kiltuish' Brings Back Memories to Old Timer
Hugh Mclnnis, one of the men pictured in the March 19 issue the 1927 wreck of the old halibut vessel "Kiltuish", has written wrecks- in which he has been involved during a lifetime in the
Hugh, still an active halibut
of The Fisherman as surviving describing some of the ship-fishing industry.
fisherman, was a delegate from the Vancouver Fishermen's Local to last month's annual convention of the United Fishermen and Allied Workers Union.
The -tale he tells of the old ship (and note we incorrectly spelled it "Kiltoosh" in our original story) adds much to the information provided by fellow
crew member Ole Vea who supplied the picture of the stricken vessel and her crew.
"We ran ashore on April 2 of 1927 at 11:30 at night," Hugh told The Fisherman.
"Next morning at three o'clock we left the 'Kiltuish' and a sad sight we were. For six days and nights we stood in the snow
Halibut Layup Rules Covering 1957 Season
A booklet outlining 1957 halibut layup rules for camp boats, trollers and halibut boats has been prepared for distribution to the Pacific coast fleet this week. The rules were adopted by three conferences of representatives of B.C., Alaska, and Sattle fishermen's and vessel owners' organisations, one held last December and the other two in February and March of this year.
"The rules are designed to provide for some extension of the fishing season by establishing rest periods or layups and for more orderly delivery of the overall halibut production," it is stated in the pamphlet.
Following are 1957 rules:
DEFINITION OF PORTS, PLANTS, AND CAMPS
HALIBUT PORTS: Points of landing halibut which have shore-based cold storage facilities and a regular fish exchange where trips are listed and bid for.
HALIBUT PLANTS: Points of landing halibut which have shore-based facilities for handling halibut.
HALIBUT CAMPS: All points of landing halibut OTHER THAN ports or plants as defined above.
RULES GOVERNING 'HALIBUT VESSELS'
DEFINITION: "Halibut Vessel" is any vessel which lands halibut at ports or plants.  All vessels with three or more men MUST land at ports or plants. Halibut vessels must lay up 8 days between trips.
2. The Layup period shall start at 2 p.m. following arrival in port. In the event the vessel arrives in port after 2 p.m.# layup shall start at 2 p.m. of the following day. JJ. Layup time must be served either at the vessel's home port or plant of sale. Halibut vessels may travel from the port or plant of sale to their home port during layup. If they then leave from their home port and their home port is nearer the grounds than the port of sale, the standard travelling time shall be added to their layup period. Any U.S. halibut vessel which sells in Prince Rupert may travel to any port in southeastern Alaska where enforcement agents with respect to the layup program are available, in order to fit out. In such event, regular travelling lime must be added.
zj.^ There will be no reduction in the regular layup between trips in the event the vessel is forced to come into port or plant early with a partial trip of halibut due to a breakdown. If the breakdown holds the vessel in port longer than the regular layup period, days in excess shall be deducted from the next regular layup of the vessel concerned. THERE SHALL BE NO OTHER EXEMPTIONS.
5#   There shall be NO EXEMPTIONS from the regular layup period on account of the Area 2 season closure being announced by the International Halibut Commission. Qt   The regular 8-day layup program will be fully enforced in respect to the Area 2 second season for all halibut vessels. This means there will be NO quick turn arounds to enable Area 3 vessels to participate.   Vessels will not be allowed more than one trip in Area 2 without a layup and vessels going out in the second season of Area 2 will have to complete 8 days' layup before proceeding to Area 3. «
f ' At the end of the Area 3A fishing season, the layup program shall end for vessels clearing for Area 3B. Termination of layup shall take effect 8 days prior to the closure date of Area 3A and NOT upon announcement of closure by the Commission. This rule was adopted in compliance with a special request from the International Halibut Commission.
§^   Crew members must observe the 8-day layup between trips. Jumping from one boat to another will be treated as an
offence and penalties applied.
Vessels and camp boats using longline gear for halibut shall not be permitted to change over to fishing for other species
or use another type of gear during the layup or closed periods.
J_0.   Penalty for leaving early: Any vessel which leaves from any port or plant ahead of its scheduled departure time as
laid out in the rules shall have one day's layup time added to the
next layup period for each hour of the violation.   Refusal to
comply with the penalty will place the vessel on the unfair list and
the crew will be suspended.
RULES GOVERNING 'CAMP BOATS'
DEFINITION: "Camp boat" is any one or two-man halibut boat
which makes delivery of halibut at camps. X.   Only one or two-man halibut boats may deliver at camps,
scows, or packers. 2.    Once a one or two-man halibut vessel makes delivery at a camp, scow, or packer, it is classified as a camp boat and must then make all deliveries at camps, scows, or packers, and is not allowed to deliver at ports or plants. Sec HALIBUT LAYUP RUELS — Pagie 8
without food. The seas were heavy.
"Then on the sixth day, a boat from Seattle, the 'Ilene', spotted the smoke and came to our rescue".
The men were taken to Yak-utat (where the picture of the survivors was taken) and from j there to Cordova. The halibut fishermen were then taken by ■ passenger boat to Ketchikan. There, five of the "Kiltuish" crew got off and were sent by fish boat to Prince Rupert. The remaining six went to Seattle and from that port to their homes in Vancouver.
One man was lost when the "Kiltuish" ran up on the beach at Cape Fairweather in Alaska.
He was Pat Calahan of Newfoundland who died at the age of 43 on his birthday and according to Ole Vea, he had a premonition he would be drowned.
Hugh Mclnnis reports an amusing incident while the men were huddled on the beach. The crew had a little Boston bull dog aboard but he didn't get ashore when the crew did.
When they saw his form, some of the crew thought he was a wolf or cougar and started to get scared, throwing things at the animal to frighten him off.
But Kenny Hicks claimed it was the ship's dog "and we might need him before we get out of here."
"I do believe his life was getting short," says Hugh, "because we were getting hungry and the dog was getting thin, so the quicker we got him roasted the better. But it didn't happen," Hugh adds.
In regard to Ole Vea's near drowning, Hugh says that "Ole had a close call and if we had lost him we would have all perished, as he was carrying the matches in a safety can."
Shipwrecks are old stuff to Hugh Mclnnis. This one was his third but it wasn't his last.
He was aboard the "Agnes C" in 1943 when she went down in Milbanke Sound. "We lived two days and nights on Price Island when we lost the 'Agnes C, before being picked up by the mission boat 'Thomas Crosby.'
"I lost all my belongings four times and under the old Union, I received $75 three times, but nothing when the 'Agnes C went down," says Hughie ruefully. Crew of the vessel included Captain Ed Prince, Alex Sweetable, Nat Gosby, Bill Marchand, Hugh Mclnnis, and Ernie Parsons, son of the owner, the late Jimmy Parsons, who stayed home that trip.
In all, Hugh spent 14 days and nights on the beach during
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45 EAST HASTINGS
All DMT HME IHEMTIEICn Veteran halibut fisherman Hugh Mclnnis has supplied ALL DU I UINt lUtlN I IrlCU some of the missing names but there is still one man of the "Kiltuish" crew unidentified. From the left.ond engineer Williams, Ole Vea, Bill Marshall, the chief engineer whose name he forgets, sec js Hugh remembers, they are Capt. Fred Brown, cook Jock Low, Oscar Berg, Hugh Mclnnis, Kenny Hicks, Jimmy Babcock, and Rod McLeod. Pat Calahan drowned in the 1927 tragedy which saw the vessel run up on the beach at Cape Fair-weather (March 19, The Fisherman). This photo was taken at Yukutat after the rescue.
his long career in the fishing in- j dustry.
He was on the vessel "Rennel" when she went down in Wright Sound in 1925 and that time the survivors lived three days and nights in the woods. It was during the month of October "whlfch is nice and wet in that part of the country", says the oft-shipwrecked fisherman.
That accident happened just after they had sold their halibut at Butedale "and the skippe,; had the cash money in his pocket. So when we went ashore at the mouth of Grenville Channel, we built a big fire and made our settlement by the light of the fire.
"From there, we rowed to Lowe Inlet where we were taken by the freight boat 'Chilcoot' to Prince Rupert. We had to pay our fare, five dollars and five cents," Hugh recalls, a fine way to treat shipwrecked sailors.
Crew of the vessel included Captain Ed Anderson, Jack Fox, Ben Johnson, and of course, Hugh Mclnnis.
In 1926, Hugh had a bad break when the "Worthman" had her pilot house burned at South Bay in Skidegate Channel.' "I was sleeping in the pilot house and so I lost everything again," says Hugh, but, he adds, "I am still
going," and indeed he is for Hugh is going out again this season aboard the "Velma C".
None of 'the shipwrecks in which Hugh took part occurred in fine weather and of them all, he considers the "Agnes C" tragedy his closest brush with death.
"Personally," the old-timer remarked, "I hope I never again get caught in one of these accidents." If there is such a thing as the law of averages, Hugh Mclnnis should surely spend the rest of his fishing days without incident, for he has had more than a full share of shipwrecks and close calls.
They Recognised lonesome Swede'
Hugh Mclnnis wasn't the only one to contact The Fisherman and correct our spelling of the "Kiltuish".
Captain Don Peck of Vancouver who fished years ago, looked up his old log book and found that the spelling was definitely "Kiltuish" and not "Kiltoosh", as we had phonetically spelled it.
He recalled that the last name of Oscar, "The Lonesome Swede" was Berg, as noted by Hugh Mclnnis.
Jim Armstrong from the Unemployment Insurance Commission also phoned to say he remembered the "Kiltuish" and he also identified "The Lonesome Swede" as Oscar Berg, which indicated Oscar must have been very well known.
Mr. Armstrong says he was pretty sure the "Kiltuish" took part in rum running at one stage of her career.
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