FISHERIES OF SACRAMENTO AND COLUMBIA RIVERS. 813 



Questiou. Is the time of catching with nets, or pounds, diflerent from 

 that with lines ? 



Answer. There are no salmon worth mentioning* caught in the Colum- 

 bia with the line.^ 



Question. Is it caught more on one time of tide than on another? 



Answer. Most of the salmon are caught about the turn of the tide. 



14. — Economical value and application. 



Question. What disposition is made of the fish caught, whether used 

 on the spot or sent elsewhere, and if so, where ? 



Answer. Most of the fish caught in the Lower Columbia are preserved 

 in cans at the great canneries. (See description of canneries, page82I.) 

 Those caught above and at the Dalles are salted. A large number are 

 also salted on the Lower Columbia. Great quantities are dried by the 

 Indians of the upper rivers. Some, of course, though comparatively 

 very few, are consumed fresh by the residents in the vicinity of the 

 river. No fresh salmon are exported to any considerable distance. The 

 salted fish, and especially the canned salmon, are sent all over the globe, 

 and have a reputation unsurpassed by any others in the world. The 

 heads, which are rejected at the canneries, are gathered by the oil-facto- 

 ries, where a large, amount of very serviceable oil is obtained from them. 

 Not many fish are smoked at the lower river, the wet climate being un- 

 favorable to this method of curing. 



Questiou. What is its excellence as food, fresh or salted"? 



Answer. The quality of the fresh Salmo quinnat of the Columbia 

 Eiver is superb, and is unequaled by any salmon of the same or a 

 lower degree of latitude. The salted, and particularly the canned salmon, 

 also possess a very high degree of excellence. 



Question. How long does it retain its excellence as a fresh fish ? 



Answer. Only a day or two exposed to the air. In ice it can be kept 

 a week and probably two weeks. 



Question. To what extent is it eaten"? • 



Answer. Vast quantities of the Columbia Elver salmon are eaten. 

 The consumption of the canned salmon is enormous, as is seen by the 

 fact that from 10,000,000 to 20,000,000 pounds are annually exported 

 from the river. The salted fish are also in great demand as an article 

 of food, and the only limit to the consumption of the fresh salmon is 

 theilimit of the population that can procure them, for every one would 

 eat them if they could get them. Great quantities of fresh and dried 

 salmon are eaten by the Indians. 



Question. Is it salted down, and to what extent? 



Answer. See answer to question What disposition ? &c. 



Question. Is it used, and to what extent, as manure, for oil, or for 

 other purposes, and what? 



Answer. This fish is not used, to any extent, for any purposes but for 



