174 REPORT OF COMMISSIONER OF FISH AND ILSHERIES. 



rACIFKJ COAST. 



The invest ijj^atioii of the lislieiics of llic I'acitic const of the United 

 States, whicli was 1k\i;uii November lo, ISSS, and lias been referred to 

 in a previons report of the division, was broujjflit to a eloseon Septem- 

 ber 2'A, ISSl), and Mr. AV. A. Wile«)X, wlio liad been eonduetinj? theeau- 

 vass, was ordered to otlier dnty. In Dcceinbcr, ISSO, ]\li-. A. B. Alex- 

 ander, lisUery expert on the Fish Commission steamer ^i ///a ^/ow, which 

 was then at San Francisco, was assigned to temporary duty in this 

 division and detailed to make additional incjuiries on certain fisheries 

 for the calendar year 1881) at times when his services on the vessel were 

 not requhed. As a residt of Mr. Alexander's work, the office came 

 into possession of valuable statistical and descriptive information on 

 the whale, cod, fur-seal, market, and other vessel fisheries of the west 

 coast; the salmon-canning' industry of California, Oregon, Washington, 

 and Alaska, and the wholesale fish trade of San Francisco, for a later 

 year than could be obtained by Mr. AVilcox. 



The present importance of the fisheries of this region, and the aug- 

 mented pronunence they are destined to attain as a result of the indus- 

 trial growth of the western States in other lines of business, warranted 

 the very detailed investigation undertaken by the division in connec- 

 tion with the careful scientific and other researches carried on by the 

 Albatross in the offshore waters. While the fisheries of the Pacific 

 coast are, as a whole, less extensive than those prosecuted on the 

 Atlantic seaboard, certain branches have i)recedence over all similar 

 fisheries. The fur-seal and salmon fislieries and the canning industry, 

 for instan(;e, are unsurpassed in other regions, and San Francisco has 

 recently become the leading center of the whaling industry, owing to 

 the transfer of vessels from the Atlantic to the Pacific, occasioned by 

 the relative scarcity of whales in the former ocean. Taken in the 

 aggregate, the lislieries were probably as successful as during any j)re- 

 vious ijcriod. The number of persons ascertained to be engaged in the 

 industry in the three coast States was 13,850; the vessels, boats, appa- 

 ratus, etc., employed were valued at $0,108,1239; and the first value of 

 the products taken was $0,387,803. Of salmon, the most important 

 ])roduct, 48,800,013 i)oun<ls Mere secured, for which the fishermen re- 

 ceived $li,08i;,800. Tiie salmon-caniung industry, exclusive of Alaska, 

 utilized 41,032,2123 pounds, which were made into 022,037 cases of 

 canned fish, having a market value of $3,703,838. 



The incjuiry disclos(Ml a very marked advance in the fisheries as com- 

 pared with 1880, wlien I'rof. 1). S. Jordan and Mr. Charles 11. Cilbert 

 canvassed the fisheries of the Pacific States in behalf of the Tenth 

 Census. Mr. Wilcox's investigation showed that the value of the 

 ocean, shore, and river (isheries of the region, viz, $0,387,80.3, exceeded 

 by $2,111,300 the results of the fisheries in 1880. Especially worthy 

 of mention is the increase in the whale and oyster fisheries. 



