PACIFIC SALMON FISHERIES. 49 



PRINCE WILLIAM SOUND AND COPPER RIYER. 



The great indentation known as Prince William Sound, and the 

 Copper River delta, a short distance south of the sound, were not 

 exploited as much as many other portions of Alaska until about 1915, 

 due largely to the limited means oi transportation and the consequent 

 heavy expense of operation. 



The principal source of salmon supply is the Copper River, a glacial 

 stream about 300 miles long, which empties into the Gulf of Alaska 

 through a delta nearly 40 miles in width and extending upstream 

 about 25 miles. 



Owing to the constantly shifting shoals in the delta, special knowl- 

 edge is needed in navigating them, while special flat-bottomed vessels 

 are required as run boats. The gill net and dip net are the only 

 important apparatus in use in the river. In Prince William Sound 

 traps and purse seines catch most of the salmon. 



In 1889 a company kno%vn as the Central Alaska Co. built a can- 

 nery on Wingham, or Little Kayak Island, about 15 miles west from 

 Cape Suckling. It made a pack that vcar, and the following spring 

 was moved to Thin Point, on the southern side of the Alaska Penin- 

 sula. 



The Peninsula Trading & Fishing Co. built a canners" on the same 

 island in 1889. In 1891 it was moved to one of the sloughs of the 

 Copper River delta, kno"VMi as Coquenhena, and operated in 1891. It 

 was closed in 1892 and 1893. The Pacific Steam Whaling Co. oper- 

 ated it until 1897, when it was abandoned. 



In 1916 the Hoonah Packing Co. built and operated a cannery on 

 Bering River. 



Louis Sloss & Co., of San Francisco, built a cannery under the title 

 of Pacific Packing Co. in 1889 at the extreme east( rn end of the 

 sound, close by the present site of Cordova, and called it Odiak. The 

 cannery was closed in 1892. In 1893 it joined the Alaska Packers 

 Association and was op<'rated each season until 1905. In 1906 tho 

 buildings and site were sold to the Copper River & Northwestern 

 Railroad Co., which was preparing to build a railroad from Odiak to 

 the headwaters of th(^ Copper River. 



In 1889 the Pacific St<'am Whaling Co. built a cannery close by 

 the Odiak plant, but in the spring of 1895 it was moved to the spot 

 now known as Orca, about 3 miles north of Cordova. It was closed 

 in 1892, and has been operated ever since except :n 1919 and 1920. 

 In 1901 it was taken into the Pacific Packing & Navigation Co. com- 

 bination. When the latter's assets were sold in 1904, this cannery 

 was not included in the sale, as at the time the plant was under lease 

 to Capt. Omar J. Humphrey. In 1 905 it was sold to the Northwestern 

 Fisheries Co., which had purchased most of the Alaska plants of the 

 defunct company, and they have operated it sinc(\ 



In 1915 the Copper River Packing Co. built a cannery on the Cop- 

 per River at Mile 55, and made a pack the same year. The cannery 

 uses no run boats, but has an arrangement with the Copper River & 

 NorthwesU'rn Railroad Co. to haul the fish from the fishing stations 

 t<) th<i cannery, and bring the finished product to Cordova for ship- 

 ment by steamer. In 1918 the name was changed to the Abercrom- 

 bie Packing Co. 



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