PACIFIC SALMON FISHERIES 545 



per ton. Most of the refuse was dumped into the river, however. 

 In 1898 a similar plant was established in the Puget Sound district 

 of Washington. In 1929 the Alaska Packers Association at Blaine, 

 the Marine Products Corporation at Everett, the Neptune Fish 

 Products Co. (Inc.) at Seattle, the Kobinson Fisheries Co. at Ana- 

 cortes, the Sea Products Co. at Seattle, and the United States Sea 

 Products Co. on Lummi Island operated on waste from Puget Sound 

 salmon canneries. 



In 1882 the Alaska Oil & Guano Co. established a fertilizer plant at 

 KilHsnoo, Alaska, for the extraction of oil and fertilizer from herring 

 and the plant has been operated continuously ever since. In some 

 years large quantities of whole salmon have been handled at this plant, 

 and the resulting product was found to sell as well as that from 

 herring. 



In Alaska the Fish Canners By-Products (Ltd.) in 1914 built a 

 large plant at Ward Cove, near Ketchikan, where salmon offal was 

 used in the preparation of fertilizer, meal, and oil. Later the com- 

 pany experimented in the preparation of various chemical products 

 from the raw material. The plant has not been operated since 1920. 



Probably the most serious evil in the salmon industry to-day is the 

 enormous wastage which annually occurs. About one-fourth of the 

 total weight of each fish handled at the various packing plants is 

 tlirown away. With the exception of the tailpiece, which is dis- 

 carded at some canneries owing to the excessive amount of bone 

 which would be in the product if canned, this waste material could 

 not be utilized as food, comprising as it does the head, viscera, fins, 

 and tail. When not conveniently near the very few fertilizer plants 

 at present in operation this product is either allowed to pass through 

 chutes into the water under the cannery or is dumped into scows and 

 towed to the ocean or the deeper waters of the sounds and there 

 throwTi overboard. This procedure is not only exceedingly wasteful, 

 but is also far from beneficial to the waters where deposited. 



A great impetus has been given to the industry during recent 

 years, owing to the big demand which has come from the farmers 

 and poultrymen for fish meal or scrap, which, after it has been mixed 

 with other ingredients, can be fed to cattle, hogs, and poultry. Ex- 

 periments carried out at various agricultural experiment stations, 

 both here and in Europe, show conclusively that this class of food in- 

 creases the appetite of the animal, and consequently the weight, 

 while it does not affect the flavor of the flesh of the animals. 



As a result of this profitable demand a number of salmon canneries 

 have installed small reduction outfits at their plants, where all of the 

 hitherto wasted products are handled and the oil and meal obtained. 

 It will probably be only a few years now before all of the canneries 

 are so equipped. 



SHIPPING FRESH SALMON DIRECT TO CONSUMER 



A feature in the salmon industry is the shipping of individual salmon 

 direct to consumers by express, or, for certain short distances, by 

 parcel post, for a certain fixed sum, which includes the fish itself and 

 the cost of delivering same to the buyer. 



This business began in Tacoma, Wash., in 1914, and those who 

 originated it advertised throughout the country that they would 

 ship a fresh salmon to any express office in the United States (except 



