24 



FISHERIES OF ALASKA, 1908. 



present company. It had been the company's intention to freeze 

 salmon, haUbut, trout, etc. 



The saltery mentioned in previous reports as having been sent to 

 the Kuskokwim River is still cached at Bethel, nothing having been 

 done this year. There is a large annual run of king salmon in this 

 river, however, and the natural difficulties of operating, owing to the 

 ice remaining in the river when the king run begins, will in time, no 

 doubt, be overcome. This year 88 barrels of king salmon, valued at 

 $1,056, were shipped from the river by traders, who got them from 

 the natives. 



Persons engaged. — This year 540 persons (of whom 243 were fisher- 

 men, 272 shoresmen, and 25 transporters), an increase of 57 over 

 1907, were engaged in the pickling industry. 



Persons Engaged in the Salmon-Pickling Industry in 1908. 



Investment. — There were 35 salteries (23 in southeast Alaska, 7 in 

 central Alaska, and 5 in western Alaska) in operation, an increase of 

 11 over 1907. In addition, some of the canneries and several of the 

 mild-curing plants also salted their surplus catch, and while the prod- 

 uct has been included in the present figures the men and investment 

 could not be separated from the statistics of the other branches of 

 the industry. Omitting these, the total investment in the pickled- 

 salmon industry amounted to $352,246, a gain of $42,933 over 1907. 



