Salmonidas 87 



claimed that since the establishment of Callbreath's hatchery 

 on Etolin Island there has been a notable increase of the salmon 

 run in the various streams of Prince of Wales Island on the 

 opposite side of Clarence Straits. But this statement, while 

 largely current among the cannerymen, and not improbable, 

 needs verification. 



We shall await with much interest the return of the thou- 

 sands of salmon hatched in 1902 in Naha stream. We may 

 venture the prophecy that while a large percentage will return 

 to Loring, many others will enter Yes Bay, Karta Bay, Moira 

 Sound, and other red-salmon waters along the line of their 

 return from Dixon Entrance or the open sea. 



Salmon-packing. The canning of salmon, that is, the packing 

 of the flesh in tin cases, hermetically sealed after boiling, was 

 begun on the Columbia River by the Hume Brothers in 1866. 

 In 1874 canneries were established on the Sacramento River, 

 in 1876 on Puget Sound and on Frazer River, and in 1878 in 

 Alaska. At first only the quinnat salmon was packed; after- 

 wards the red salmon and the silver salmon, and finally the 

 humpback, known commercially as pink salmon. In most 

 cases the flesh is packed in one-pound tins, forty-eight of 

 which constitute a case. The wholesale price in 1903 was for 

 quinnat salmon $5.60 per case, red salmon $4.00, silver salmon 

 $2.60, humpback salmon $2.00, and dog-salmon $1.50. It costs 

 in round numbers $2.00 to pack a case of salmon. The very 

 low price of the inferior brands is due to overproduction. 



The output of the salmon fishery of the Pacific coast amounts 

 to about fifteen millions per year, that of Alaska constituting 

 seven to nine millions of this amount. Of this amount the red 

 salmon constitutes somewhat more than half, the quinnat about 

 four-fifths of the rest. 



In almost all salmon streams there is evidence of considerable 

 diminution in numbers, although the evidence is sometimes 

 conflicting. In Alaska this has been due to the vicious custom, 

 now done away with, of barricading the streams so that the 

 fish could not reach the spawning grounds, but might be all 

 taken with the net. In the Columbia River the reduction 

 in numbers is mainly due to stationary traps and salmon- 

 wheels, which leave the fish relatively little chance to reach the 



