236 REPORT OF COMMISSIONER OF FISH AND FISHERIES. 
weight of the former being 20 pounds, and of the latter 10? pounds. 
In addition to the quantity canned in 1892, 34 barrels of chinook and 
163 barrels of silver salmon were salted. The salmon are mostly caught 
with gill nets, only one haul seine being used. The fishermen comprise 
various nationalities, one-third of them being native-born, one-half 
Europeans, and twelve Indians. The cannery employees are Chinese, 
with the exception of a few Indian women. 
This stream has no spring run of salmon. The first fish to enter the 
river are the chinooks, which arrive about the middle of July; most of 
the run of this species is in the river by the middle of September, a 
few also being found up to October 1. Silver salmon first enter the 
river about the time the run of the chinooks is dropping off, or from 
the first to the middle of September. In 1892 the first silver salmon 
were taken September 16. A good run at that time was followed the 
first week in October by a very large body of fish. When the river was 
visited by the writer on October 5 silver salmon were very abundant. 
Large and small sardines are very abundant between June and Sep- 
tember, and other varieties of good food-fish are found in the river at 
certain seasons, and at all times just outside of the river. From its 
isolated location, with indirect transportation facilities, no attention is 
paid to any branch of the fisheries except the salmon. 
BENTON COUNTY. 
This comparatively small county has two rivers whose fisheries are 
of considerable prominence, namely, the Alseva and the Yaquina. 
Each of these near its mouth expands into a long, narrow bay, which 
takes the name of its respective river. Outside the rivers the fisheries 
are of no importance, although there is an abundance of salt-water fish 
ou the outlying banks in the near vicinity. 
Alseya River.—The run of salmon on this stream was quite large in 
1889, and 9,000 cases and 50 barrels were packed at the only cannery 
in operation. Prices of canned salmon ruled low, and on that account 
and the poor prospects for satisfactory results the cannery was idle 
during the following year. Fish were scarce in 1890; the cannery was 
closed, and besides a few salmon taken for local use only 50 barrels 
were salted and 6,000 pounds shipped fresh to Portland. In 1891 the 
fisb were not abundant, and only 3,500 cases were canned, 50 barrels 
salted, and 16,000 pounds shipped away fresh. In 1892 a very large 
run of salmon entered the river for the first time in three years. The 
canners, not looking for the great increase, were prepared for only a 
light catch, and were obliged to close down early in the season as soon 
as all the cans had been filled. At the time the river was visited by 
the writer, on October 8, 1892, it was full of salmon, but no fishing was 
carried on. With only a limited number of cans to fill and a large 
run of fish to draw from, the fish packed consisted almost entirely of 
chinooks, although, as in the other coast rivers, silver salmon com- 
prised fully three-fourths of the run. 
