FISHING IN THE PRIAMUR DISTRICT OF SIBERIA, 13 
According to official figures for 1913 the number of fishing stations 
of all kinds in this region was as follows: 
Kind of station.  céh Ai Tem, obfeaae, of |, anneal 
. stations rental. 
Government stations: 
Catching....--e-eeseeseteersenereerceneressseenecetecens WicuarssedOnriventsacc. sath. Haancean 
Salting...----seseeveceeeesseeseceeeeesesieeeessneeetenens A. 84 | One year...22222.]  20'867.00 
Macikeseel fred oreatiped ahetenlet od | il 160, 398. 10 
Municipal stations: tian? - 
Catching....-.e-eerereereenceserecseeneentereneteseetee {13 | Omeyenr.-stzccccz), 28,602.00 
Salting. ..--sssecereseeseescesesecscentseenteitentneesen: Hs is 8) One ong. aco b peaaaTeO 
MOPAR ec; nook won dPet Wb. cites CoN HiS ee Head. eats. | Bechepeee dee sis seed 85, 099. 10 
Grandatotalecs ts cpt suas a Ano NN a peat Beak | 139.) rahe eee hae ee 245, 497. 20 
In addition to the above stations 53 Russian villages and over 
122 native settlements participated in the fishing industry. 
In 1913 the run of humpback salmon, which began in the estuary 
on June 16 and in the river June 18 or 19, lasted during the whole 
season; this species was also found in the autumn chum run. The 
run was above the average and almost equal to the run of 1912. 
At the Government stations below Nikolaievsk 2,845,687 fish were 
caught, at the municipal stations 2,731,546, and at the Government 
stations above Nikolaievsk 111,000, while only 1,780,561 fish were 
caught by the local population. The summer and autumn runs of 
chum salmon were very irregular, especially the autumn run, which 
was divided into four separate runs, the last of which was so un- 
expected that many fishermen had already closed their stations for 
the season before it appeared. 
The Nikolaievsk district was formerly the chief source of supply of 
fish to Japan, and the great majority of Nikolaievsk fishermen were 
largely dependent upon Japan, not only for a market but also for 
working capital. The Japanese, however, finally offered such low 
prices for the fish and made the credit conditions so unfavorable 
that the fishermen were compelled to look for another outlet for their 
product. Such an outlet was found in European Russia, and the secret 
of success of this new departure of the business was salmon caviar. 
Only a few years ago salmon caviar was almost an inedible product; 
it was carelessly prepared, crumpled, and poorly packed. About six 
or seven years ago the Volga River black caviar dealers became 
interested in the Amur salmon caviar and began to experiment with 
it. They introduced cleaner and more careful methods of washing 
and a better method of packing it, with satisfactory results. The 
caviar was thoroughly tested, stood transportation, and gradually 
