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: ~ PACIFIC COAST FISHERIES. 299 
is THE SALMON INDUSTRY. 
Brief notice has been made of the first canning of salmon in Alaska, 
of its success, and of the rush to this new region of those previously 
_ engaged in the business in other sections. The number of canneries in 
| the Territory increased up to 1891, when the business reached high- 
_ water mark; the number of canneries in operation was 33 and the pack 
was 808,908 cases. This Jarge amount of canned salmon, added to the 
~ customary yearly pack of the Columbia and other rivers, could have but 
one result, that of an overstocked market. that at once necessitated 
a curtailing of operations. Salmon continued in great abundance 
in Alaskan waters, and it was apparent that the running of the 33 
canneries to their full capacity would result in great pecuniary loss. 
Twenty-seven of the canning firms consequently decided to largely 
diminish expenses and reduce the amount of the pack in 1892, and in 
future years, so far as possible, to limit the production to the probable 
demand of the trade. This was accomplished by the firms mentioned 
pooling their business and closing 18 canneries that had run in 1891; 
the others, with those not entering the combine, made the number of 
factories operated in 1892 only 15. The pack in 1892 was 468,970 cases. 
The principal salmon used in the canning business in Alaska are the 
small red-meated fish, locally known as red salmon, which has an 
average weight of 7 pounds, and the larger king or chinook salmon, 
which averages 30 pounds. In packing a case of 48 one-pound cans, 
_ the average number of red salmon required is 12, and of king salmon 23. 
This is a much larger average than obtains at the canneries in the 
Pacific States, where the fish are less abundant and more valuable. 
The great abundance of these fish in Alaska results in the use of only 
the choicest parts and in the loss or waste of large quantities of products 
which otherwise would be utilized. 
The extent of the salmon fishery of Alaska and of the canning and 
salting industry dependent thereon is given in the following tables. 
It appears that in 1892 2,601 persons were engaged in the industry, 
that $2,184,303 was invested, that 37,534,100 pounds of salmon were 
utilized at the canneries in the preparation of 468,970 cases of canned 
fish and 55 barrels of salt salmon, the manufactured products having a 
value of $1,970,110. For reasons already given, the business was much 
less extensive in 1892 than in any of the other years under considera- 
tion. The canneries not operated in the years shown represent a very 
large investment which does not appear in the statistics. Only the 
property actively employed is noticed. 
The business of salting salmon, as a branch of the fishing industry 
independent of the salting done at the canneries, is quite important 
and is yearly increasing in extent. About a dozen firms, located in 
various parts of Alaska, engaged in salting salmon in 1892, utilizing 
4,697,400 pounds of fresh fish and preparing 15,658 barrels of salt 
salmon, having a value of $125,264. In the following year 5,871,600 
pounds of raw material were Og in the production of 19,572 
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