PACIFIC SALMON FISHERIES 455 



when canning operations w('r(^ Iransl'etTcd (o llio now cannery in 

 Jjarsen Bay. In 1893 it joincnl tlie Alaska Packers Association. 



Tlie Kodiak Packing (Jo. in 1888 built a cannery on the eastern 

 side of the spit and operated it in 1888, 1889, 1890, 1891, and 1893. 

 It joined the Alaska Packers Association in 1893, but has not been 

 operated since that season. 



• The Hume Packing Co. built a cannery on the spit about 400 yards 

 westward of Kodiak cannery in 1889. In 1892 it was consolidated 

 with the Aleutian Islands Fishing & Mining Co., which had built a 

 cannery about 100 yards westward of the Hume cannery in 1888. 

 In 1893 the consolidation became a member of the Alaska Packers 

 Association. This plant was not operated in 1900. 



In 1888 the Alaska Improvement Co. built a cannery on the left 

 bank of the outlet, opposite the point of the spit and facing the 

 Shelikof Strait. It was ready to pack in 1888, but was not operated 

 on account of the loss of its cannery ship, the JtLlia Ford. In the 

 spring of 1897 it w^as sold to the Alaska Packers Association and has 

 since been operated by that company. 



In 1893 the Hume Canning & Trading Co. built a cannery on the 

 beach under Karluk Head, about three-fourths of a mile northw^ard 

 of the Alaska Improvement Co., in what is known locally as Tangle- 

 foot Bay. It w^as operated in 1893 and 1894, and in 1895 it w^as sold 

 to the Alaska Packers Association and operated by that company. 

 It has been closed since. 



The great increase in the number of canneries in Alaska in 1888 

 and 1889 caused such an enlargement of the pack that the markets 

 became glutted, and it was soon apparent that steps would have to 

 be taken to reduce the output if the operators were to avoid bank- 

 ruptcy. 



Captain Moser in "Salmon and Salmon Fisheries of Alaska " ^° thus 

 describes the attempts of the canners to find a working solution of 

 this important problem and the final result of their endeavors : 



In 1890 the three canneries at Chignik combined under an operating agreement 

 known as the Chignik Bay Combination, under whicli the plant of the Chignik 

 Bay Co. was operated, the three canneries sharing tlie expense and dividing tlie 

 output equally. This arrangement remained in force during the seasons of 1890 

 and 1891. Its evident success in 1890 probably led to the local combinations on 

 Kodiak Island in 1891, and then to the association which now exists. 



The large packs during this period and the glutted market caused the cannery 

 interests to devise some scheme to meet the conditions. The combination at 

 Chignik in 1890 permitted the pack to be made there at a lower rate and, as pre- 

 viously stated, it was continued in 1891. The same year (1891) the canneries at 

 Karluk, Uyak, and Afognak entered a combination, under the name of the Karluk 

 River Fisheries, under which it was agreed that each cannerj^ should have a quota 

 of fish from the several localities, based upon the average packs of each cannery in 

 1889 and 1890. The estimated pack for the canneries interested was placed at 

 250,000 cases, and upon this estimate the apportionment of the work at each can- 

 nery was made. Under this agreement four of the eight canneries were closed, 

 their quota l:)eing packed in the other four canneries as follows, viz, that of the 

 Royal at the Karluk, of the Arctic at the Kodiak, of the Aleutian Islands at the 

 Hume, and of the Russian-American at the Alaska Improvement. 



In the summer of 1891 the Kodiak Packing Co. and the Arctic Packing Co., 

 both at Alitak Bay, also had a mutual agreement under which only one cannery, 

 the Arctic, was operated, the ciuota of fish of the Kodiak being packed in the 



20 The Salmon and Salmon Fisheries of Alaska. Report of the Operations of the U. S. Fish Commission, 

 Steamer Albatross for the year ended June 30, 1898. By Jefferson F. Moser. Bulletin, U. S. Fish Com- 

 mission, 1898. Vol. XVIII, pp. 18-21. Washington, 1899. 



112992°— 30 4 



