96 REPORT OF THE COMMISSIONER OF FISHERIES. 



Far more destructive to the fisheries tlian any other form of appa- 

 ratus was the barricade now happily abolished by the salmon inspect- 

 ors. This consisted of a permanent obstacle of lo^s, boards, or 

 netting- laid across the stream so that the salmon could not pass, 

 but remained in the pools below, from which they could easily be 

 seined out. The essential evil was that the barrier remained through- 

 out the season, and not a fish could reach the spawning beds. After 

 four or five years (or the period of a generation of salmon) there 

 would be no run of salmon in barricaded streams. This suicidal 

 method was largely practiced in the early days of salmon fishing and 

 canning, and still earlier by the Indians. With the canners it was a 

 phase of the get-rich-quick idea, which has been the curse of Alaska. 

 After long efforts the Treasury Department, through its salmon inspect- 

 ors, has destroyed all these barriers, and probably none will be again 

 erected. 



In the Chilkoot River, and in some other streams, the Indians build 

 stone or wooden stands or platforms in the shallow, swift current, and 

 stones are placed in lines on the bed of the stream in such a way as to 

 compel the fish when on their way vip the stream to swim by the 

 stands. When the salmon are running, an Indian stands on each plat- 

 form, and with a gaft' hook on a long pole sweeps to the right and left 

 through the turbid glacial water. The fish can not be seen and are 

 struck at blindly, but considerable numbers are taken in this way. 



The fishermen and Indians condemn the pound nets and stationary 

 traps, chiefly because these structures take the place of their own 

 labor. This criticism is applied to all labor-saving devices, and is 

 worth}^ of no consideration from the economic side. 



The canniixg and salting of salmon. — The first canneries in Alaska 

 were built in 1878, one at Klawock and one at Sitka. Gradually the 

 number increased, until in 1902 there were in operation in Alaska 

 64 canneries and 19 salteries, and the pack in that year amounted to 

 2,631,320 cases of forty -eight 1-pound cans each. In 1903 the number 

 of canneries operated was reduced to 60, distributed geographically as 

 follows: Southeast Alaska, 21; Prince William Sound, 2; Cook Inlet, 2; 

 Kadiak Island and Chignik Bay, 8; Bristol Ba}^, 27. The total pack for 

 1903 was 2,246,210 cases, valued at $9,748,599. 



The salteries are usually establishments of small capital, dealing 

 chiefly with the humpback salmon. In most cases only the belly is 

 salted, the rest of the fish being thrown away. This can hardly be 

 called waste, as the belly is the best part, and the fish swarm in millions. 

 Moreover, all the adults would die after spawning, and at present 

 undoubtedly enough are permitted to spawn to keep up the supply. 



In Taku Bay is a cold-storage plant where king salmon, dog salmon, 

 and steelheads are frozen and shipped to the eastern States and to 



