APPENDIX III APPENDIX III 
Products and processing 
The salmon fishery produces a wide variety of food and 
industrial products with all parts of the salmon being uti- 
lized. All five species of salmon are canned; other popular 
forms are steaks, fresh or frozen fillets, and smoked or 
salted. Only chinook and coho salmon enter the fresh and 
frozen market in quantity, though pinks and chums are occa- 
sionally used to substitute for seasonal gaps in supply. 
Salmon eggs (roe), once considered a worthless byproduct of 
Alaska's salmon fishery, now provide millions OLvdollaxrSm eo 
tne States of Alaska and Washington. In 1972 the two States 
processed about $12 million of salmon roe. Fishmeal and fish 
oil are also produced. Table 2 shows the major salmon pro- 
ducts produced in 1972 for the States of Alaska, California, 
Oregon, and Washington. 
Table 2 
Value of Major 
Salmon Products for 1972 
(in millions of dollars) 
Salmon products Value 
Canned $ 89.8 
Caviar--egg roe Lies 
Smoked 5.6 
Fresh/frozen Sod 
Salted 2.3 
Total $114.7 
Source: U.S. Department of Commerce, National 
Marine Fisheries Service, Fishery 
Statistics of the United States, 1972. 
Living Marine Resources, Inc., reported that an industry 
survey in late 1973 of 82 salmon processing plants in Alaska, 
Washington, Oregon, and California indicated a total replace- 
ment value of $191 million for cannery facilities and support 
Operations. 
Salmon canneries vary in size and age. According to an 
industry official, canning capacity is adequate in Washington, 
Oregon, California, and in most areas of Alaska. He indicated 
that, in the event of a large unexpected salmon run, the can- 
ning capacity in any one area may not be adequate to harvest 
all the fish. During large runs, the canneries must also 
work “around the clock" because the Pacific salmon deteriorate 
rapidly once caught and must be processed quickly if their 
initial high quality is to be maintained. 
After the salmon have been caught, fishing vessels often 
transfer their fish by hand to tender boats which take them 
to the cannery. Fishing vessels, however, can take their catch 
directly to the cannery. In the cannery, automation takes 
over. The fish are placed on a conveyor belt and automatically 
beheaded, finned, split, and gutted while at the same time 
being cleansed by water jets. The belt carries the fish to 
knives that cut the salmon into can-size pieces and filling 
macnines place the chunks of salmon into cans. Much of the 
hand labor has been eliminated. 
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