 On 25 October 1928, several Bureau of Fisheries vessels were tasked to join U.S. Navy vessels in enforcing the provisions of the Northern Pacific Halibut Act of 1924 in the Bering Sea and North Pacific Ocean, with their crews granted all powers of search and seizure in accordance with the act to protect populations of Pacific halibut.By 1930 the Bureau had nearly 20 boats patrolling in Alaskan waters.In 1933, it began to add speedboats to its Alaskan patrol inventory.