THE COMMERCIAL FISHERIES OF THE PACIFIC COAST STATES 



IN 1904, 



By W. A. Wilcox, 

 Agent, Bureau of Fisheries. 



INTRODUCTION AND GENERAL TABLES. 



The most recent official canvass of the fishing industries of the Pacific 

 Coast States was made Irv the Bureau of Fisheries in 1905, and fur- 

 nished statistical and other data for the calendar } r ear 1904 which are 

 here published in detail. A condensed statement of the same informa- 

 tion was issued in Statistical Bulletin No. 185, under date of August 

 31, 1906. 



As new avenues of distribution have been opened the fishing indus- 

 tries of the Pacific coast have increased in importance and in 1901 rep- 

 resented an investment of $12,839,919 in capital, employed 19,658 per- 

 sons, and yielded 168,599,676 pounds, valued at $6,680,866. The 

 demand for both salt and fresh fish is constantly increasing. Formerly, 

 canned salmon was used but little in eastern states, and most of the 

 pack went to England. Pacific cod and fresh sea products were seldom 

 seen outside the cities on the west coast. Now canned salmon is found 

 in nearly every retail grocery store in the United States, and a large 

 export trade continues. Cod taken and salted by vessels from Cali- 

 fornia and Washington ports is now in demand all through the Pacific 

 States, and man} 7 carloads annually go to Chicago, New York, Boston, 

 and even to Gloucester, Mass. By means of express and refrigerator 

 cars fresh salt-water fish, oysters, crabs, shrimp, and smelt are daily 

 sent in large shipments from San Francisco, Los Angeles, San Diego, 

 Seattle, and Tacoma to interior points in Colorado, Nevada, New 

 Mexico, and Arizona. 



The following tables show in general the extent of the fisheries of 

 the west coast in 1904, together with a comparison of statistics for 

 recent years: 



Number of Persons Employed in the Fishing Industries of the Pacific Coast 



States in 1904. 



