PACIFIC SALMON FISHERIES. ~ 65 
Considerable fishing was carried on in both the Nushagak and 
Wood Rivers until in 1908, when, as a result of a hearing held by 
the Secretary of Commerce and Labor on December 16 and 17, 1907, 
it was decreed that beginning January 1, 1908, ‘‘it is hereby ordered 
that until further notice Wood River, a tributary of Nushagak Bay, 
in the district of Alaska, and the region within 500 yards of the 
mouth of said Wood River be closed to all commercial fishing, and 
that all commercial fishing be prohibited in Nushagak River proper.” . 
The earliest fishing by whites in the Bristol Bay section was for 
salting purposes by the trading companies, more particularly the 
Alaska Commercial Co., which had an important station at Fort 
Alexander on Nushagak Bay. Petroff, in the census report of 1880, 
refers to exports from this section of ‘‘from 800 to 1,200 barrels of 
salted salmon per annum from the Nushagak River.” 
In 1883 the schooner Neptune visited the Nushagak on a salting 
trip. The next year the Arctic Packing Co. erected a cannery here 
and made a trial pack of 400 cases. This was the first cannery to 
operate in Bering Sea. It was located close to the Moravian mission. 
This cannery eventually became a member of the Alaska Packers 
Association, and has not been operated for several years. 
The second cannery to be built was by an Astoria company, the 
Alaska Packing Co., and it was erected on the western side near the 
head of the bay and about 14 miles below the mouth of the Wood 
River. It has been operated every year to date, being since 1893 a 
member of the Alaska Packers Association. It is popularly known 
as the ‘“‘Scandinavian”’ cannery. ; 
In 1886 the Bristol Bay Canning Co. was organized by San Fran- 
cisco parties, and built a cannery on the western shore of Nushagak 
Bay in a bend about 2 miles below the cannery of the Alaska 
Packing Co., at a place called Dillingham. It became a member of 
the Alaska Packers Association in 1893 and was operated each year 
until 1907. A couple of years later it was dismantled. This plant 
was popularly known as the ‘‘ Bradford” cannery. 
The Nushagak Canning Co. built a cannery on the eastern shore 
of Nushagak Bay in 1888, at a place known as Clark Point, 54 miles 
below Fort Alexander. This cannery also became a member of the 
Alaska Packers Association in 1893, but from 1891 to 1901 was not 
operated, but held in reserve. In the last named year a large double 
cannery was built here and put into operation and has been operated 
each year since. 
This company also built and operated a saltery on the Igushik 
River in 1886. Three years later it was moved to the mouth of the 
Nushagak. In 1893 C. E. Whitney & Co. purchased an interest in 
it and by 1899 owned it all. In 1902 the saltery was sold to the 
Alaska Packers Association, which closed it down. 
