104 FISHERY INDUSTRIES OF THE UNITED STATES. 
are put up in hermetically sealed cans, which, if stored on ice, will 
keep from one to three weeks and are sometimes shipped as far east 
as Chicago. This applies also to the clam juice and oysters. 
As the heaviest runs of salmon in the Puget Sound region occur 
during the warmer weather, it is difficult to keep the fish in good con- 
dition very long, and for this reason it was soon recognized as neces- 
sary that the canneries be located as near the salmon grounds as 
possible. In the early stages of the industry some canning was done 
at West Seattle, but it was discontinued after the buildings were 
twice destroyed by fire. The most important salmon-canning centers 
of Washington now are Anacortes, Blaine, Everett, and Bellingham, 
all being favorably located to the fishing grounds. Many of the ean- 
ning companies still maintain offices in Seattle. 
In 1915 a company in Whatcom County smoked the salmon before 
canning. The following is a brief description of the process through 
which the salmon passed before being canned: The salmon are first 
placed in a concrete tank, from which they are taken and passed 
through a machine which cleans and eviscerates them and cuts off the 
heads and tails. The fish, after being cut into sizes suitable to the 
size of the can, are taken to the smokehouse, where they are put on 
trays. Extending lengthwise down the middle of the smokehouse 
from floor to ceiling are 12 inclosed compartments or chambers, 8 by 
12 feet in size. Each of these chambers holds 56 wire trays, 2 by 34 
feet in size, divided into groups of 14, placed one above the other. 
The bottom tray is 27 feet above the fire and 20 feet below the top of 
the building. That part of the chamber holding the trays is about 6 
feetin height. There is a ventilator over each chamber extending out 
through the roof of the building. A draft hole near the bottom of 
each chamber or floor of the building enters the space where the fire 
is located. The salmon remain in the chambers about 24 hours, 
or a trifle less. The capacity of this smokehouse is 35,000 pounds. 
Alder wood was at first used, but it has since been replaced by oak. 
This building was built only recently, and it is therefore believed to 
possess the most modern ideas. 
An advantage to the dealer in smoking the salmon before canning 
is that it gives the inferior grades of fish the same color as those of a 
higher grade, such as the blueback. The dealers claim that there is 
not nearly so much difference in the quality of salmon meat as the 
color would seem to imply. In proof of this statement it is said that 
fish brokers have been unable to distinguish between smoked chum 
and smoked blueback. 
