20 COMMERCIAL FISHERIES OF ALASKA IN 1905. 



THE HERRING FISHERY. 

 HISTORY. 



As early as 1878 persons in Wrangell engaged in the business of 

 catching herring, from which they extracted the oil, in addition to salt- 

 ing and drying the fish. In 1880 the Western Fur and Trading Com- 

 pany, at their St. Paul (Kadiak Island) fishery, put up 500 boxes (30 

 pounds each) of smoked herring and 25 one-quarter barrels and 100 

 kits of salted herring. 



The fertilizer plant at Killisnoo, on the island of Kenasnow, close 

 to the western shore of Admiralty Island, owned and operated by the 

 Alaska Oil and Guano Company, is the largest and oldest concern 

 engaged in the herring fisheries. In 1882 the Northwest Trading 

 Company, the predecessor of the present company, established at 

 Killisnoo a small plant for extracting oil. As it proved successful it 

 was gradually enlarged, and in 1884 the plant for the manufacture of 

 guano was installed. The works at present are quite extensive, with 

 commodious storehouses and a fine wharf. The common barrels used 

 are made on the premises by machinery. As the fish while breeding 

 are very poor and furnish no oil, the factory does not begin to operate 

 until June, by which time the fish are feeding again and have com- 

 menced to fatten. In June it is estimated that one barrel of fish will 

 furnish about half a gallon of oil; from this time the quantity obtained 

 increases, until in the early part of September one barrel of fish pro- 

 duces about 3 \ gallons of oil. It then begins to decrease until in 

 December a barrel of fish will produce about 2 gallons of oil. The 

 factory is generally operated from June to December. The season is 

 frequently shorter, however; in 1905 it ran from June to October. 

 Three steamers are employed and the fish are taken by means of 

 purse seines. A few herring are salted each season, also. 



During the season of 1905 the Alaska Fish and Development Com- 

 pany, of Pleasant Bay, on Glass Peninsula, installed a fertilizer plant 

 aboard a large hulk anchored in the bay, but they were unable to get 

 it in readiness to operate before the season closed. They put up a 

 considerable quantity of salted herring, however. In 1904 this com- 

 pany operated a trap net for herring in the bay, but it was not set in 

 1905. 



From 1899 on, various companies and individuals put up salted 

 herring at points along the coast south of the Aleutian chain. The 

 fishing in Norton Sound and on the Yukon River is done by natives 

 with seines, and the fish caught are either consumed locally or ex- 

 changed with the interior tribes for other articles. 



On June 15, 1904, the sardine cannery of the Juneau Packing Com- 

 pany was opened at Juneau, and during the balance of the year put 



