PACIFIC COAST FISHERIES. 141 



The fishing- industry is one of the most iiniiortaut enterprises of the 

 west coast, and in some sections is more prominent than all other 

 branches of business. Compared with the other coastal sections of the 

 United States, the States of the Pacific Coast, including Alaska, now 

 maintain fisheries that rank next to those of the New England and 

 Middle Atlantic States in extent and importance. The value of the 

 fishery products is greater than in the South Atlantic, Gulf, and Great 

 Lakes States combined. 



The inquiries of the Commission disclosed the fact that in 1892 the 

 number of persons engaged in the fisheries of the Pacific States was 

 16,929, of whom 5,403 were in California, 4,332 in Oregon, 4,310 in Wash- 

 ington, and 2,884 in Alaska. The aggregate capital invested was found 

 to be $9,002,314, The shares of the different States were $2,520,746 for 

 California, $2,272,351 for Oregon, $1,593,567 for Washington, and 

 $2,609,650 for Alaska. The value of the catch was $6,245,192, a sum 

 representing the products as landed by the fishermen. Of this amount 

 California is credited with $3,022,991, Oregon with $872,405, Washington 

 with $931,568, and Alaska with $1,418,228. 



The chief objects constituting the products of the west coast fisheries 

 are salmon, cod, herring, tiounders, rockfish, smelts, whales, fur seals, 

 crabs, shrimps, and oysters. The salmon are nearly as valuable as all 

 of the other products combined. Next to these in point of value are 

 whalebone, oysters, fur-seal pelts, shrimp, cod, flounders, crabs, herring, 

 whale oil, rockfish, and smelt. 



Chief among the fishery industries of the Pacific States is the can- 

 ning of salmon, which is prosecuted on a large scale in California, Ore- 

 gon, Washington, and Alaska. In 1892, 56 canneries were in operation. 

 These utilized 81,487,993 pounds of salmon, having a value of $2,376,037, 

 from which 1,118,098 cases of canned fish, each holding 48 one-pound 

 cans or the equivalent, were prepared, the market value of the canned 

 goods being $5,294,032. 



Hugh M. Smith, 

 Assistant in charge Division of 

 Statistics and Methods of the Fisheries. 



