PACIFIC COAST FISHERIES. 



239 



salted, the entire catch is utilized at the cannery located on the river. 

 Fishing is done by 44 Indian, Russian, and Austrian fishermen, using 

 gill nets. The chinooks taken average about 20 pounds in weight, 

 being somewhat lighter than those of the Columbia; the silver salmon 

 average 10 pounds. The abundance of salmon varies a great deal 

 from year to year; in 1891 the fish were very scarce, while in 1892 the 

 run of silver salmon was phenomenally large; chinooks were less 

 numerous in 1891 and 1892 than during the two preceding years. The 

 catch of each kind of salmon during the four years named was as follows, 

 the figures representing the number of fish taken: 



The quantity and value of the salmon packed and salted in the same 

 years are given in the following table: 



THE COLUMBIA RIVER. 



The fisheries of this river are more extensive than those of any other 

 stream in the United States, and the canning industry dependent 

 thereon is more important than any other similar business connected 

 with the fisheries. The annual output of fish in the Columbia River is 

 greater than from any other river in the country, and no other stream 

 has in the aggregate yielded such large quantities of fish. 



The importance of the fishing industry of this river and the increased 

 attention now being given to its condition warrant and make desirable 

 the consideration of the stream as a unit, regardless of the separate 

 interests of the two States whose boundary it forms and whose fisheries 

 are given in detail, by counties, in the tables elsewhere presented. 



Reference is seldom made to the fisheries of Washington and Oregon 

 in which the Columbia is not mentioned, although the fishing industry 

 comprises but one of the many branches of commerce connected with 

 this important stream. In the previous report of this Commission on 

 the fisheries of the west coast, the history and methods of the fisheries 

 of the Columbia were discussed at considerable length. It only remains 

 at this time to record such changes as have taken place in the industry 

 during the past three or four years. In the investigation on which this 



