II. FISHING GROUNDS AND HISTORY OF THE FISHERIES. 



WASHINGTON. 



Puget Sound. — Strictly speaking, the name Puget Sound should be 

 restricted to that long, narrow arm extending south from the Strait 

 of Juan de Fuca, but a practice has developed, and is now common 

 among fishermen and others, of designating all the great water area 

 in the State of Washington comprising Puget Sound proper, Strait 

 of Juan cle Fuca, Canal de Haro, Rosario Strait, the Gulf of 

 Georgia, and the smaller straits, bays, and sounds, as Puget Sound, 

 and this practice, for convenience sake, has been followed in this 

 report. 



This great indentation in the coast, with its numerous islands and 

 many fine harbors, has greatly aided the development of this portion 

 of Washington and has been especially favorable to the prosecution 

 of the salmon and other fisheries. Numerous rivers and creeks enter 

 the Sound, the more important of these being on the eastern shore 

 and comprising the Nooksack, Skagit, Stillaguamish, Snohomish, 

 Duwamish, Puyallup, and Nisqually. On the southern and western 

 shores the tributary streams are nearly all small, the more important 

 being the Skohomish, Quilcene, Dungeness, and Elwha. 



The first fishing operations by white men were begun soon after 

 the settlement at what is now known as Seattle, about 1852. For 

 many years the catch was sold either fresh or salted. The first 

 salmon cannery on Puget Sound was erected in 1877, at Mukilteo, in 

 Snohomish County. The first pack was of 5,000 cases, composed 

 wholly of silver or coho salmon. Later this plant put up the first 

 humpbacks ever canned. In 1880 the cannery was removed to West 

 Seattle. In 1885 other canneries were erected at Mukilteo, Seattle, 

 Tacoma, and Clallam Bay, most of them packing silver and hump- 

 back salmon alone. The first sockeye salmon cannery was established 

 at Semiahmoo. in Whatcom County, in 1892, from which time on 

 the industry fluctuated considerably, 15 canneries being operated 

 in 1910. 



Quillayute River. — This is a small stream, about 30 miles in length, 

 which flows through the southwestern part of Clallam County and 

 empties directly into the ocean. The Quillayute Indian Reservation 

 is located here and the natives catch some salmon and market them 

 on Puget Sound. 



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