Libby's No 23 is significant as it embodies the distinctive characteristics of a type, period, and method of construction. The level of significance is State. The period of significance of the boat, 1914 to 1951, is the commercial development of the salmon fisheries in Alaska generally and Bristol Bay most particularly since Libby's No. 23 was actively fished in the bay for more than 60 years. The commercial salmon fisheries were historically the biggest industry in Alaska until it began to be eclipsed by oil production from the North Slope in the late 1970s and early 1980s. Libby's No. 23 is an authentic icon from the heyday of the Bristol Bay sailboat fishery, the world's last great wild salmon fishery. The area of significance is maritime history. The sailboat was involved in the commercial fishery between 1914 and 1951 and during that time it was but one of thousands of cannery owned fishing sailboats with two man-crews plying the dangerous waters of Bristol Bay in pursuit of the five kinds of Pacific salmon. Now there are only about ten museum-quality double-enders in existence. By definition Libby's No. 23 is a significant object, if poorly understood, of state and national importance. As such the Bristol Bay double-ender sailboat offers the perfect historic icon of the continued sustainability of the salmon fishery and the Bristol Bay people and those throughout the world dependent on the wild fishery. - US NPS