PACIFIC SALMON FISHERIES. 37 



For a considerable time after the salmon-canning business was inaugurated the pack- 

 ers suspended operations in the early part of July of each year as at that time the 

 market would take only goods which showed a rich oil and the best food values.^ 



Tlie business languished after the firm estabUshed its cannery on 

 the Columbia River, but in 1874 was renewed again by others and 

 continued with varying success until 1905, when it ceased tempo- 

 rarily, owing to the smaller quantity of fish available and the diffi- 

 culty of competing with the mild-cure packers and the fresh-fish deal- 

 ers. Several times since small packs have been made when, for 

 some reason, mild-curino; was unprofitable. 



Monterey Bay. — The hrst harbor south of San Francisco is Mon- 

 terey Bay, a large indentation cutting into Santa Cruz and Monterey 

 Counties. Only a portion of it is well sheltered, however. For a 

 number of years it had been known that salmon frequented the 

 waters of this bay for the purpose of feeding on the 3"oung fishes 

 which swarmed there. Sportsmen freciuentlv caught them with rod 

 and reel, but it was not until the early eiglities that the industry 

 was established on a commercial basis. It has since grown very 

 rapidly. The catch has either been mild cured at Monterey or 

 shipped fresh. A few have been canned in recent years. 



ALASKA.^ 



Alaska is the most favored salmon-fishing region. Many rivers, 

 some of great length and draining enormous areas, intersect the dis- 

 trict in every direction, while the numlier of small creeks is countless. 

 Almost every one of these have runs of salmon of varying abundance. 

 The principal streams entering Bering Sea are the Yukon, Kus- 

 kokwim, fogiak, Nushagak, Kvichak, Naknck, Ugaguk, and 

 Ugashik; in central Alaska the Chignik, Karluk, Alitak, Susitna, and 

 Copper Rivers are the main streams, while in southeast Alaska are 

 found, among many others, the Anklow, Situk, Alsek, Chilkat, Chil- 

 koot, Taku, Stikine, and Unuk Rivers. Most of the fishing in Alaska 

 is carried on in the bays into which these rivers debouch. In south- 

 east Alaska, which is composed largely of islands, the fishing is carried 

 on mainly in the bays, sounds, and straits among these. 



Even before the purchase of the district from Russia in 1867 our 

 fishermen occasionally resorted to southeast Alaska and prepared 

 salted salmon. The salmon fisheries did not become important, how- 

 ever, until canning was begun. 



SOUTHEAST ALASKA. 



One of the most favorable sections for carrying on fishing 

 operations is southeast Alaska. Here a narrow strip of main- 

 land, about 30 miles wide, separates British Columbia from salt 

 water and forms the " panhandle'' of Alaska. Outside this is a fringe 

 of numerous islands, large and small, close to the coast hue, conform- 



o The First Salmon Cannery. 15y R. D. Hume. Pacitic Fisliornian, Seattle, Wash., Vol. II, No. 1. 

 January, liXM, pp. 19-21. 



The mattTial T'r the history of the salmon fisheries of Alaska for the period from tlir inception of salmon 

 canning to I'M) was obtained alni'sl wholly from the followinp excellent and valnaMe reports by ("apt. 

 JeiTerson I', ^^osf•r, to whom 1 am dcc|)ly indebted f(ir this and other valuable data: 



Th(> Salmon and Salmon Fisheries of Alaska. Report of the Operations of the United States Fi.sh Com- 

 inl<isi'>n Sieamer A IIxiItou for the Year ended June 30, IS'JH. Hy Jefferson F. Moser. Bulletin, U. 8. FLsh 

 Comniis-<i<in, isox, Vol. XVIII, pp. 1-17K. Washinpton, 1K9!). 



Alaska Salmon Inve,stl(;atlrns in VM*) and 1901. liy JeiTerson F. Moser. Bulletin, U. S. Fish Commis- 

 sion, 1901, Vol. XXI, pp. 173-398. Washington, 1902. 



