PACIFIC SALMOlSr FISHERIES. 67 



Stokes & Stokes operated a small saltery on the lower Yukon, packing 15 barrels of 

 chum salmon. Their plant wa.' valued at §1,500. Equipment consisted of one 

 powfT !)oat and 300 fathoms of gill nets. They report having located too far up the 

 river, but before another season will mo\'e to a point lower down. 



^^'arden C Y. Townsend reported that one Sepella operated a saltery on the Yukon 

 about 12 miles from salt water and that a pack of 110 barrels of chums and cohos was 

 made. Salmon were taken with gill nets and one wheel. Mr. Townsend also advised 

 that the Delta Fishing Co. was in the field in a small way. 



Statistics compiled at the close of the season of 191S indicate that exclusive of gear 

 operated by the cannery and salteries near tlie mouth of the river, the whites and 

 natives on the Yukon and tributary waters used 393 fish Avheels, valued at $19,650, and 

 130 gill nets aggregating 3,250 fathoms, valued at Sfi.oOO. The e?timated catch for 

 local requirements was 1,400,000 salmon, wliich when dried represented approximately 

 700 tons of fish, valued at $140,000. 



The total population of the Yukon region of Alaska, dependent in some measure on 

 the fisheries, was estimated late in 1918 a,s being 10,907, of which number 6,638 were 

 whites and 4,269 were natives. The number of dogs in the region was e-^timated at 

 6,183. 



Prior to the season of 1918 the size of the run of salmon in the Yukon was an almost 

 unknown quantity. The belief was expressed in some quarters that a comparatively 

 small run ascenrled its waters, but otliers who were interested in the commercial 

 exploitation of its fisheries held the opinion that a run aggregating many millions of 

 salmon annually ascended the river. The nece.s.sity of maintaining the fisheries is 

 paramoimt at all times, and if it is reasonable to 8uppo.se that a serious depletion o'" the 

 suj>ply by unrestiicted fishing seema imminent, limitations must necessarily be 

 imposed. This was done on December 11, 1918, by the promnlgation of regulations 

 Electing commercial fishing for salmon in the Yukon fiiver. The clgsing order wMch 

 is published in full on page 11 in tliis report became effective January 1, 1919. 



MISCELLANEOUS PLACES. 



At times small quantities of salted salmon have been packed in 

 Boring Sea in the noighl)orhood of Nome and St. Michael. In 1917 

 the Arctic Fish Co. operated on a large scow on Golovin Bay, near 

 Nome. 



ARCTIC OCEAN. 



Although it is kno^vn that there arc good runs of salmon in some 

 of the rivers debouching into the Arctic, the ice and other conditions 

 have deterred people from attempting to extend their operations 

 into this region. In 1912, however, the Midnight Sun Packing Co, 

 built and operated a small cannery on Kotzcbuc Sound, in the Arctic 

 Ocean. A small pack, mostlv oi Dolly Varden trout, was made in 

 that and subsequent years. I'lie plant was not operated in 1919, 



BRITISH COLUMBIA,'* 



Fraser River. — This, the largest river in British Columbia (over 

 1,000 miles in length), has been important from a fishery standpoint 

 ever since salmon canning was taken up commercially. 



The Hudson Bay Co., the first to prepare salmon for commercial 

 purj)()ses, bought the fish from the Indians and pickled them in 

 barrels for export, mainly to the Hawaiian Islands and Asia. 



Howay,** in his work on '"British Columbia," after describing 

 briefly the fishing operations carried on by the Hudson Bay Co. in 

 the Fraser River, has the following to say with respect to the develop- 



1 Thn author is in'lebtcfl to Henry Doyle, of Vancouver, British Columbia, for practically all of the 

 historical data relatiiiR to thecannine in'liistry of British Columbia, and hereby oxprcs.sesliis deep appreci- 

 ation for this and many other courtesies. 



* HritLsh Columbia, from the earliest Times to the I'rc-scut. Uy K. VV. lioway. 4 vols.,illus. Van- 

 couver, 1914. 



