64 SALMON FISHERIES OF PACIFIC COAST. 



pass through while the smoking is going on. The smoking must 

 be done slowly, two weeks being devoted to it. 



There is a good demand for this product locally, the fish selling 

 for from 15 to 20 cents a pair, but little effort has been made to ex- 

 tend its sale outside of central Alaska. 



FREEZING. 



The process of preserving fish by freezing was first introduced 

 in 1888. Previous to this the comparatively ancient method of 

 packing with ice, or in rare instances letting the fish freeze naturally 

 during the winter months, was followed. Packing with ice is in 

 quite general use to-day for shipments of fish which are to be pre- 

 served for short periods of time. Cooling with ice never results in a 

 temperature lower than 32° F., which, of course, does not freeze 

 the fish. 



The freezing of salmon and steelhead trout began on the Sacra- 

 mento and Columbia Rivers in the late eighties. It was taken up 

 in a small way on Puget Sound in 1892. That year Wallace Bros, 

 and Ainsworth & Dunn froze a small lot, and the venture was so 

 successful that the next year nearly all of the wholesale dealers on 

 the Sound took up the business. In Alaska the preparing of frozen 

 salmon began in 1902. The San Juan Fishing & Packing Company, 

 soon to be succeeded by the Pacific Cold Storage Company, put up a 

 cannery and cold-storage plant at Taku Harbor, in southeast Alaska, 

 in 1901, though it did not operate the cold-storage portion until 1902. 

 This is the only plant which has operated in Alaska, although the 

 New England Fish Company erected in 1909 a large plant at Ketchi- 

 kan for the freezing of halibut primarily, but will probably freeze 

 salmon also. 



The freezing of salmon is almost invariably carried on in connec- 

 tion with other methods of handling and preserving, and the purpose 

 is usually to secure the fish when numerous and cheap, freeze them, 

 and then hold them until the runs are over and the fish are once 

 more in good demand at high prices. The business proved so profit- 

 able, however, that the dealers began to look for wider markets for 

 their product. Europe, more especially Germany, was prospected 

 and a profitable market soon delevoped, with the result that to-day 

 frozen Pacific salmon can be secured in nearly every town of any 

 size in western Europe, while large quantities are marketed all over 

 our own country. 



There are four important features in packing and using frozen 

 salmon: (1) To get fresh fish; (2) to keep them cold (about 15° 

 above zero) after they are frozen; (3) to keep a coat of ice on them, 

 and (4) to allow them to thaw slowly in cold water before cooking. 



