30 V. S. BUREAU OF FISHERIES. 



The banner year in the canning industry was 1884, when 620,000 

 cases of chinook salmon were marketed. At this time the runs were 

 so enormous that tons and tons of salmon were thrown overboard 

 by the fishermen because the canneries were unable to handle them. 



As in other sections, there came a time when the market began to 

 be glutted by the packs of the numerous canneries, and it was found 

 necessary to combine some of the plants in order to operate more 

 cheaply and also to reduce the output. 



In 1885 W. H. Barker and George H. George, who had been con- 

 nected with various canneries, formed a partnership as George & 

 Barker and purchased the Astoria cannery of the Port Adams Packing 

 Co., then 2 years old. 



Shortly before this a combination which was named the Eureka & 

 Epicure Packing Co. had been formed and comprised the following 

 plants: Knappton Packing Co., Knappton; North Shore Packing 

 Co., just below Knappton; and the Eureka Packing Co. This 

 combination got into financial difficulties, and the reorganizers per- 

 suaded George & Barker to join the combination and take charge. 



In 1887 the Eureka & Epicure Packing Co., the plants of Samuel 

 Elmore, M. J. Kinney, and J. W. Seaborg, all of Astoria; J. O. Han- 

 thorn & Co., Astoria ; Fishermen's Packing Co., Astoria ; Scandinavian 

 Packing Co., Astoria; Columbia Canning Co., and J. W. & V. Cook, 

 Clifton, were combined under the name of the Columbia River 

 Packers Association. In 1889 the association built a new cannery 

 at Rooster Rock. Mr. George was witii the association until his 

 death, but Mr. Barker left it to become general manager of the 

 British Columbia Packers Association, where he is at present, the 

 dean of the Pacific coast cannerymen. 



Early in the eighties the California Can Co. was engaged in the 

 business of making cans in San Francisco. Later the Pacific Sheet 

 Metal Works absorbed the company. A factory was started at Asto- 

 ria, with Mr. F. P. Kendall in charge. The latter, who is one of the 

 deans of the industry, has had a long and interesting connection with 

 all branches of the industry and in most sections. The American 

 Can Co. later on bought the Pacific Sheet Metal Works, and the 

 Astoria plant was moved to Portland. 



The American Can Co. was the first to install sanitary can-packing 

 machinery in the salmon industry, the venture being made in 1911, 

 at the Sanborn-Cutting plant in Astoria. 



At the present time (1919) there are 21 canneries in operation on 

 the river, while barge f[uantities of salmon are also frozen, mild cured, 

 pickled, smoked, and sold fresh in the markets of the world. 



Commercial fishing is carried cm mainly between the mouth of the 

 Columbia and CeHlo, a distance of about 200 miles, and in the Wil- 

 lamcUe River. The most of it is in the lower part of the river, within 

 about 40 miles of its mouth. Bakers Bay, on the Washington or 

 north side, and just within the river's mouth, is the favorite «^romid 

 for pound-net fishing. The principal gill-net drifting ground is from 

 the river's mouth to about 20 miles above Astoria, but drifting is 

 done wherever convenient reaches are found much farther up the 

 river. Most of the drag seines are hauled on the sandy bars in the 

 river near Astoria, which are uncovered at low water. Wlieels are 

 operated in the upper river above the junction of the Willamette 

 with the main river. 



