Steamboat Bay is the site of a historic salmon cannery on the north coast of Noyes Island, part of the Prince of Wales archipelago in the Gulf of Esquibel of Southeast Alaska, about 122 miles (197 km) south-east of Sitka and 77 miles (124 km) west-north-west of Ketchikan. The bay was named in 1923 by the US Coast and Geodetic Survey after Steamboat Point, a headland at the entrance. The headland is indistinct except for a landslide that left a prominent gray scar at an elevation of about 1,000 feet (305 m)—an important navigational landmark for steamship captains. The embayment is bisected by a fault that cuts through rocks of the Descon Formation, part of the Alexander terrane. The formation consists of a sequence of coarse and fine-grained marine rocks over 10,000 feet (3,050 m) thick, predominantly graywacke with interbedded basaltic volcanics and some limestone. These are the oldest known rocks exposed in the north-west coastal area of Prince of Wales Island. The formation is intruded by diorite exposed on several mountain peaks, such as Noyes Peak, which has an elevation of 2,275 feet (693 m) at the head of the watershed draining into Steamboat Bay.

The cannery at Steamboat Bay began operations around 1917 when the Noyes Island Packing Company started a saltery for the mild curing of salmon, then expanded into a full salmon cannery. In 1922, during an industry consolidation, the cannery was sold to the Steamboat Bay Packing Company; in 1924 it was sold again to the New England Fish Company. In the 1940s the facility underwent major growth and renovation to support the second world war effort. Most salmon were caught in fish traps and purse seine nets, causing over-exploitation. This became a geopolitical concern when data suggested that 71% of the salmon caught off Noyes Island were destined for Canadian natal streams. By 1957 the allocation and management of salmon resources passing through politically partitioned land and sea in Southeast Alaska and northern British Columbia had become a major issue. In 1959 the cannery shut when Alaska became the 49th state and fish traps were outlawed. Several owners subsequently operated the facility as a fish-packing and shipping site until the massive structure was eventually abandoned. In 2007 the site was converted into a luxury fishing resort.

A population survey of Southeast Alaska geoduck clams began in 1978 at Noyes Island. In 1983 a management plan was developed, and in late 1985 the first permit was issued for a commercial harvest. Between 1989 and 1999 increased interest in the fishery followed the discovery of additional commercially viable geoduck beds on the west coast of Gravina Island south of Vallenar Point, Symonds Bay at Biorka Island, Kah Shakes and Goddard near Sitka. The geoduck is the largest North American bivalve and one of the world’s largest burrowing clams, reaching a weight of more than 13 pounds (5.9 kg). The name derives from a Nisqually phrase for “dig deep”, as the clams can be more than four feet (1.3 m) under the surface in coarse sand. The geoduck fishery occurs throughout coastal Washington, British Columbia and Southeast Alaska and is conducted by divers using surface-supplied air. In the commercial fishery geoducks are harvested individually using a water jet that loosens the substrate around the clam, allowing the diver to lift them out alive. Geoducks are shipped to processing plants where they are packed and usually delivered live to Asian markets. Read more here and here. Explore more of Steamboat Bay and Noyes Island here: