814 REPORT OF COMMISSIONER OF FISH AND FISHERIES. 



food, with tlie exception of the heads at the oil-factories, from which oil 

 is procured. 



Question. What were the highest and lowest prices of the fish, per 

 pound, during the past season, wholesale and retail, and what the 

 average, and how do these compare with former prices ? 



Answer. For canned fish the market opened in April, 1875, at $4.80 

 a case — 48 one-pound cans. This was a losing price, and the canneries 

 declined to begin work. Soon after, about the 1st of May, prices rose 

 to $5.90, which left quite a margin for profit, and in a very short time 

 the canneries were under full headway. The price ranged throughout 

 the season from $5.90 to $5.10, which is much lower than the figures of 

 former years, canned salmon commanding, in 1874, $6 a case, and in 

 previous years even more than that. The retail price of a pound-can of 

 salmon is 25 cents everywhere, whether on the Columbia or in New York 

 City. Salted salmon bring $8 a barrel of 200 pounds at !San Francisco. 

 Freights to San Francisco vary from $3 to $5 a ton, averaging $4. These 

 figures, I believe, do not vary much from year to year. The prices for 

 fresh salmon vary indefinitely, in proportion to their abundance. At 

 times they are very abundant and very cheap. At other times they 

 are very scarce and very dear. The canneries pay about 20 cents apiece 

 for their fresh salmon. These will average in weight from 16 to 17 

 pounds when dressed, though occasionally one is caught weighing 50 or 

 60 pounds or more. The prices for fresh salmon in the season, at Fort- 

 land, Oreg., range from 30 cents to $1.25 apiece. The first of the 

 season bring $2 apiece. In November, 1875, canned salmon brought in 

 San Francisco from $6 to $6.30 a case. Contracts for 1876 were being 

 made the same month at $5.40 to $5.60. Salt salmon were very abun- 

 dant in the San Francisco market at $7 a barrel. 



Question. Are these fish exported ; and, if so, to what extent "? 



Answer. The canned fish are sent all over the world in great quanti- 

 ties, nearly 20,000,000 pounds being exported in 1874. The salted fish 

 are sold chiefly in the United States, South America, the Pacific islands, 

 and Pacific coast generally. It isestimated that about4,000,000 pounds of 

 salted salmon were exported in 1874. No fresh or smoked salmon ar^e 

 exported. 



Question. Where is the principal market of these fish ? 



Answer. San Francisco buys most of the canned and cured salmon of 

 the Columbia, but chiefly to sell again. The fresh salmon find only a 

 home market. 



Question. Give name of and address of observer. 



Answer. Livingston Stone, San Francisco, Cal. 



Question. Give date of statement. 



Answer. October 20, 1875. 



