30 ALASKA FISHERIES AND FUR INDUSTRIES IN 1915. 
THE SALMON INDUSTRY. 
The outstanding feature of the Alaska salmon industry in 1915 was 
the enormous increase in the pack of humpbacks in southeast Alaska, 
where 1,820,191 cases of this species were produced as against the pre- 
vious record for humpbacks in this section of 1,289,737 cases packed 
in 1913. There was also a good increase in the pack of pinks both in 
central and western Alaska. Another feature of this season’s opera- 
tions was the lighter run of red salmon in western Alaska. For the 
three previous years the catch of reds in the Bristol Bay district was 
unusually good, the approximate catch in 1912 being 19,900,000, in 
1913 it was 21,500,000, and in 1914 it was 20,900,000, but in 1915 it 
declined to about 16,800,000. This, however, is larger than the catch 
of red salmon in those waters in 1910, when the take numbered only 
11,600,000. It is worthy of mention that there is an increasing use 
of purse seines in the Bristol Bay region. In 1915 more than a mil- 
lion red salmon were taken by this form of apparatus whereas three 
years ago the catch was confined exclusively to traps and gill nets, 
chiefly the latter. It is regarded as quite likely that within a few 
years the Bristol Bay district will be the scene of an extensive purse- 
seine fishery. Although western and southeast Alaska showed a 
decrease in the pack of reds in 1915, central Alaska yielded a gratify- 
ing increase in this valuable species. 
The pack of chums in Alaska was lighter this year than in 1914, but 
it was apparently due more to the fact that some of the canneries 
filled all available cans during the extraordinarily heavy run of pinks 
rather than to any pronounced shortage of chums. A number of 
plants thus ceased packing without waiting to take advantage of the 
later run of chums in southeast Alaska. This rather early closing 
showed its effect also in a somewhat smaller pack of cohos than was 
put up in 1914. The pack of kings in all three districts of Alaska was 
better than in the previous year. This is explained in part by the 
fact that the lessened demand for mild-cured salmon on account of 
the European war resulted in the canning of larger numbers of king 
salmon which otherwise would probably have been mild cured. The 
production of pickled salmon was only about half that of 1914, the 
reason being due chiefly to the lessened run of reds in western Alaska. 
The fresh and frozen salmon industries, which are prosecuted in south- 
east Alaska, showed good increases in 1915. 
SALMON CANNING. 
CHANGES IN CANNERIES. 
The plant of the Canoe Pass Packing Co., at Canoe Pass, in south- 
east Alaska, was dismantled and the machinery moved to a new loca- 
tion at Cordova. The plant at Canoe Pass was built and operated in 
