FISHERY INDUSTRIES OF THE UNITED STATES. 61 
FISHERIES BY COUNTIES. 
In 1915 commercial fishing was prosecuted in 25 counties in Wash- 
ington. These include counties bordering on Puget Sound, the Pacific 
Ocean, and the Columbia River and tributaries. This report shows 
salmon, including steelhead trout, taken commercially as far from the 
coast as in the Snake River opposite Lewiston, Idaho. No commer- 
cial fishing, however, is followed from the latter State, as its laws 
discourage all but hook-and-line fishing. Practically the entire catch 
of the Snake River is made with seines and consists mainly of steel- 
head trout and chinook salmon; a few blueback, chum, and silver 
salmon, and sturgeon are also taken. 
King County.—This county supports the most valuable fisheries of 
the State, due mainly to the fact that Seattle is located within its 
boundaries. Most of the State’s salmon and halibut fleets are owned 
and operated from this city. Among other important fisheries 
centered here are the gill-net and troll fisheries. In 1915 the products 
of the fisheries of this county amounted to 54,993,930 pounds, with 
a value to the fishermen of $2,204,124. The two most important 
items of this total are 33,642,389 pounds of halibut, valued at 
$1,691,211, and 16,934,501 pounds of the various species of salmon, 
including steelhead trout, valued at $406,981. Salted cod amounting 
to 2,220,000 pounds, with a value of $73,980, is also an important 
item. ‘These fish are taken and salted in Alaskan waters and brought 
back to the State for repacbiag and shipment. 
Whatcom County.—The output of the fisheries of this county in 
1915 amounted to 20,546,494 pounds, having a value to the fisher- 
men of $493,887, consisting mainly of salmon. Most of these are 
taken with pound nets and gill nets in the shore fisheries and with 
purse seines in the vessel fisheries. This county, being very con- 
venient to the fishing grounds, has many of the largest salmon can- 
neries of the State. Bellingham and Blaine are the centers of the 
canning, as well as of the fishing, industry of the county. 
Skagit County.—The fisheries of this county ranked next in impor- 
tance to those of Whatcom County, the output amounting to 
14,693,537 pounds, valued at $427,988. This county is also con- 
venient to the salmon-fishing grounds, and owes its extensive fish- 
erles to that fact. With the exception of a few cases of salmon 
packed at La Conner, all of the county’s salmon pack was put up at 
Anacortes, where eight canneries were in operation in 1915. Exten- 
sive pound-net and purse-seine fisheries are also operated from here. 
La Conner supports valuable gill-net fisheries, the catch being taken 
to Anacortes. Included in the total output of the county are 
3,278,284 pounds of salted cod, valued at $106,954, taken in Alaskan 
waters by schooners owned at Anacortes. Samish, in this county, 
is the most northern point in the State at which oysters are taken. 
In 1915, 2,400 bushels of eastern oysters, worth $9,000, and 480 
bushels of native oysters, worth $1,890, were marketed from private 
beds in Samish Bay. 
Pierce County.—F ishing is followed from many places in this county, 
but the most important fishing center in the county is Tacoma, 
where a large number of purse-seine vessels are owned and operated. 
Several halibut vessels also fish from this port. No salmon canning 
is done in this county, but large quantities of fish are handled at 
