PACIFIC SALMON FISHERIES 541 



storage portion until 1902. The Takii Harbor Canning & Cold 

 Storage Co. later on succeeded to the ownership and operation of 

 this plant. This is the only plant which was operated in Alaska 

 until the New England Fish Co. erected in 1909 a large plant at 

 Ketchikan for the freezing of halibut primarily, but considerable 

 quantities of salmon have been frozen also. 



In 1911 the schooner Metha Nelson was fitted up as a floating 

 freezer by the Alaska Packers Association and sent to Kodiak Island. 

 As the vessel arrived in San Francisco shortly before the State's 

 closed season on salmon began, and it was a difficult matter to dispose 

 of the catch before then, the business was abandoned. 



In 1912 J. Lindenberger (Inc.) opened a freezing plant at Craig, 

 on Fish Egg Island, Alaska, while the ship William H. Smith was 

 outfitted as a floating cannery and freezer by the Welding & Inde- 

 pendent Fisheries Co., at Saginaw Bay, Alaska. The latter operated 

 only one season. 



The year 1913 saw quite a development in the industry. The 

 Columbia & Northern Fishing & Packing Co., at Wrangell, the 

 Juneau Cold Storage Co., at Juneau, the Booth Fisheries Co., at 

 Sitka, and the floating cold-storage ship Glory of the Seas, by the 

 Glacier Fish Co., at Idaho Inlet, were all started this year. 



In 1914 the Ketchikan Cold Storage Co. opened a freezer for the 

 general commercial freezing of fish. 



In 1917 the San Juan Fishing & Pacldng Co. built and operated a 

 cold-storage plant at Seward. 



In 1918 Henry Goemaere operated for the first time a plant at 

 Washington Bay; while the National Independent Fisheries Co. and 

 the Trout Fisheries Co. froze salmon at Ketchikan. All the other 

 freezers operated as usual, the only change being the purchase by 

 Libby, McNeill & Libby of the cold-storage plant and cannery of the 

 Taku Harbor Canning & Cold Storage Co. at Taku Harbor. 



The freezing of salmon is almost invariably carried on in connection 

 with other methods of handling and preserving, and the purpose is 

 usually to secure the fish when numerous and cheap, freeze them, and 

 then hold them until the runs are over and the fish are once more 

 in good demand at high prices. The business proved so profitable, 

 however, that the dealers began to look for wdder markets for their 

 product. Europe, more especially Germany, was prospected and a 

 profitable market soon developed, with the result that to-day frozen 

 Pacific salmon can be secured in nearly every town of any size in 

 western Europe, while large quantities are marketed all over our own 

 country. 



There are four important features in packing and using frozen 

 salmon: (1) To get fresh fish; (2) to keep them cold (about 15° above 

 zero) after they are frozen; (3) to keep a coat of ice on them; and 

 (4) to allow them to thaw slowly in cold water or in the air before 

 cooking. 



In selecting salmon for freezing, only the finest and freshest of 

 each species are used. The current belief that freezing destroys the 

 flavor of the fish is erroneous, the flavor depending entirely upon 

 the condition before freezing, and the quicker they are frozen after 

 being caught the better will the natural flavor of the fish be pre- 

 served. Frozen salmon are just as wholesome as fresh, and their 

 chemical constituents are almost identical. The danger lies in the 



