68 IT. S. BUREAU OF FISHERIES. 



ment of the commercial salmon fisheries and the preparation of the 

 catch by salting and canning on the part of the mdependents who 

 succeeded the company: 



SALMON TANNING INDUSTRY. 



No sketch of our hiatorj' could be called complete without containing some reference 

 to the origin and development, during the early stages, at any rate, of the industry of 

 salmon canning. 



By its charter tJie Hudson Bay Co. was granted ' ' the fishing of all sorts of fish, whales, 

 sturgeons, and all other royal ifishes in the seas, bays, inlets, and rivers, within the 

 premises (that is witliin the undefined area surrounding Hudson Bay), and the fish 

 taken therein." Though no similar grant was contained in the exclusive license of 

 trade witli the Indians west of the Rocky Mountains, which was the only title the 

 company had in tlii? region, yet it claimed and exercised a monopoly of the salmon 

 fishing on the Fraser River. 



Reference has already been made to the salmon fishery carried on by the company 

 at San Juan Island. In August, 1829, at Fort Langley (the name of this place has since 

 been changed to Derby) 7,544 salmon were obtained from the natives at a cost of £13 

 178. 2d. in goods. The trade increased; in 1835 and for many years thereafter 3,000 

 or 4,000 barrels of salt salmon were exported, principally to the Hawaiian Islands. 

 With the revocation of the license in 1858 this claim of monopoly fell. 



Capt. William Spring, in 1863, began salting and curing salmon at Beechy Bay. 

 In the following year Mr Anuandale, with whom Mr. Alexander Ewen was associated, 

 opened a salmon saltery on Fraser River. This venture was almost a complete failurd 

 owing to the attempt to use the Scotch trap nets instead of drift nets. The former 

 wore found utferly unsuited to the conditions on Fraser Ri-\'er. When this enter- 

 prise failed, Mr. Ewen introduced drift nets and carried on an extensive business in 

 salted salmon ^vith the Hawaiian Islands and Australia. 



The first attempt, on the Fraser River, to preserve salmon in hermetically sealed 

 cans was made in 1867 by James Symes. This was not a commercial effort, but a mere 

 experimental test to ascertain the possibility. A few cases were prepared, filled, and 

 cooked by boiling on an ordinary kitchen stove. The result was most encouraging. 

 The product was shown at the agricultural exhibition held in New Westminster in 

 October, 1867, and was pronounced excellent, the directors making special mention 

 of it. 



About the same year Donald McLean established another salmon-curing establish- 

 ment at New Westminster. Besides salted salmon, he put up pickled salmon, salmon 

 boiled and preserved in vinegar, and smoked and kippered salmon. 



The canning of salmon as a business was first undertaken on the Fraser by Alexander 

 T.oggie & Co. The persons interested were Alexander Loggie, Alexander Ewen. 

 James Wise, and David S. Plennessy. Mr. Wise was an experienced fisherman; 

 Messrs. Loggie and Hennessy had had experience in the canneries of New Brunswick. 

 In June, 1870, these persons built, in connection with a salmon saltery, the first salmon 

 cannery in P>ritish Columbia. It was located at Annieville, about 3 miles below New 

 Westminister. The cannery was a very primitive affair; the cylinders upon which 

 the cans were shaped were of wood covered with sheet iron; the trays were small wooden 

 contrivances holding about three dozen one-pound cans. There was practically no 

 machiner}"- ; the operations were almost entirely by hand . The fish after being put into 

 the cans was preserv-ed by boiling in large wooden vats. Great difiiculty was experien- 

 ced in thoroughly cooking the lish, the boiling point of ordinary water not proving 

 sufficient; to overcome this, salt was added to the water, and by this means the tempera- 

 ture was raised to 230°. The room in which the cooking was performed \'i as, in tempera- 

 ture like a Turkish bathroom ; no windows or doors were allowed to be opened, except 

 of necessity, under the mistaken idea that the cold currents of air would injure the 

 product. 



Capt. Stamp, who has been frequently mentioned in the foregoing pages, also 

 enterefl the business at the same time. His cannery was located at Sapperton, New 

 Westminster. He did not attempt to manufacture his cans, but obtained his supply 

 from Mr. Deas, a tinsmith of Victoria. 



About 1873, Loggie & Co. removed their cannery to New Westminster, where in the 

 meantime Messrs. Lane, Pike, and Nelson had established themselves in the same 

 business. These latter persons conceived the plan of canning the salmon whole; the 

 sockeyes, being of an almost uniform size, lent themselves readily to this attempt. It 

 was, however, a failure, as owing to the great vacuum in the cans, they became much 

 distorted. 



