518 U. S. BUREAU OF FISHERIES 



When packs of 10,000 to 15,000 cases were made in a season 

 only the absolutely essential machinery was used, the rest of the 

 work, such as cutting and cleaning the fish and placing them in the 

 cans, being done by hand. When larger canneries were constructed, 

 especially in Alaska, where labor is expensive and difficult to obtain, 

 the greater part of the workmen having to be brought up from the 

 States, machinery to do as much as possible of the work became 

 absolutely essential. The inventive genius of the country came to 

 the rescue and one by one machines for cutting, sliming, and clean- 

 ing the fish, filling the cans, putting the tops on, and washing them 

 were invented and put into use, while automatic weighing machines 

 were produced and extensive improvements and alterations were 

 made in the machines previously in use. There are to-day many 

 large manufacturing establishments which devote all or the greater 

 part of their facilities to furnishing machinery and supplies to this 

 giant branch of the salmon industry. 



When salmon canning was in its infancy, a pack of from 150 to 200 

 cases was considered a good day's work. Now it is not an uncommon 

 occurrence for a cannery to turn out from 2,500 to 4,000 cases in one 

 day, and there are a number which have even greater capacity. 



The usual method of figuring the capacity of a salmon cannery is 

 Dy the number of lines or units employed. The machinery arranged 

 so that the fish pass through all the operations from filling to double 

 seaming is known as a line, and the capacity is based upon the 

 number of these lines in use in the plant. 



During the height of the salmon run, a cannery is an exceedingly 

 busy and interesting place, and a description of the methods used at 

 the present time A\dll show the giant strides the industry has made 

 since the days of Hapgood, Hume & Co. 



HANDLING THE SALMON 



At convenient spots near the fishing grounds large scows and 

 lighters are anchored and the fishing crews deliver their catches 

 aboard these, the tallyman on each scow keeping a record and giving 

 the crew a receipt. Men fishing near the cannery deliver then catch 

 alongside. Steamers and launches are used to tow out empty scows 

 and bring in those filled. In the old days the fish were pitched by 

 hand into bins on the wharves, but this laborious method has been 

 superseded by the use of an elevator, which extends from a short 

 distance above the top of the wharf to the water's edge, provision 

 being made for raising or lowering the lower end according to the 

 stage of the tide. This elevator is slanting, and is made of an end- 

 less chain operating in a shallow trough. About every 2 feet there is 

 attached to the chain a crosspiece of wood. At the top of the eleva- 

 tor are chutes which deliver the fish at various convenient spots on 

 the cutting-room floor. 



A comparatively recent invention is the unloading scow. This is 

 a scow divided by kid boards into compartments. On the side is an 

 opening which, when not in use, is closed by planks dropped into 

 grooves. The filled scow is run alongside an elevator with a flaring 

 mouth box at the lower end. A chute is placed between the scow, 

 opposite the door, and the elevator, the door opened, and the fish 

 allowed to slide by gravity into the box, then up the elevator to the 

 fish floor. As one compartment is emptied another is attacked by 



