Canada, Merchant Marine Agreements and Accounts of Crews, 1890-1920

FamilySearch.org added these records on January 9 covering "ports in British Columbia (primarily Victoria). Some records are from ports in Nova Scotia, Newfoundland and a few foreign ports. The documents are organized by ship and include, among other information, the signatures of crew members, their ages and birthplaces. Each box includes a general inventory of its contents listing box and file numbers, date, ship name, location and owner. The original records are in possession of the British Columbia Archives in Victoria."
There are 23,381 browse images in total arranged by year groups in boxes:
Box 1-7 1890-1897; Box 8-14 1897-1903; Box 15-20 1903-1908; Box 21-25 1908-1911; Box 26-30 1911-1913; Box 31-35 1913-1915; Box 36-40 1915-1917; Box 41-46 1919-1920. See http://goo.gl/bzDS6 for access.

Each box corresponds to a computer file, perhaps 3000 images per file.
Dipping into the last file I found agreements for whaling ships operating between April and November off the east and west coasts of Vancouver Island and up to the Queen Charlotte Islands. Also coastal vessels plying along the US, Canadian and Alaskan Pacific Coast. In addition to crew identification there was information on the conditions of employment.