THE FISHEEIES OF ALASKA IN 1906. 13 



than seines, while each took more than twice as many as the traps. 

 The catch with Hnes and spears was comparatively small. In num- 

 ber of fish caught, Western Alaska slightly leads Southeast Alaska. 

 Of the total catch of 31,756,775 fish, 984,804 were cohos, 3,259,384 

 dogs, 7,707,999 humpbacks, 267,827 kings, and 19,536,761 sockeyes. 

 Western Alaska leads in the catch of sockeyes and dogs, while 

 Southeast Alaska ranks first in cohos, humpbacks, and kings. 



CANNING. 



The season of 1906 was a very good one, owing to the large pack — 

 the best since 1903 — and to the remunerative prices received for the 

 low-grade species. Owing to the agitation in regard to conditions 

 prevailing in the meat-packing plants of Chicago and elsewhere, a 

 distrust of all American canned goods — including salmon — was 

 engendered in Europe, which for a few months materially curtailed 

 the sales of sockej'^e salmon, the principal species shipped to that 

 part of the world; but the foreign consumers' mistaken idea that the 

 conditions stated to be prevailing in the meat-packing establishments 

 existed in even the remotest connection with the canning of salmon 

 in Alaska was soon dispelled, and the volume of orders gradually 

 became normal. Great care is almost universally exercised in the 

 selection of the salmon to be packed, especially the high-grade species 

 which the foreign consumer demands. 



The earthquake and fire in San Francisco in April seriously incon- 

 venienced some of the canneries whose headquarters were in that 

 city and whose vessels had not yet left for Alaska. The outfit of the 

 Williams cannery of the Alaska Packers' Association, on the Ugashik 

 River, was destroyed, and arrangements were hastily made to operate 

 the plant as a saltery, but when the Coffey Creek cannery of the asso- 

 ciation was burned down on May 31, a portion of its saved outfit was 

 transferred to the Williams plant, wliich was then operated as a 

 cannery. The chief inconvenience to the other cannerymen was in 

 the dispersal of their Chinese employees. Eventually this was over- 

 come, however, and all the plants were operated as usual, Indians 

 being secured for the most part in place of the missing orientals. 

 Besides the Coffey Greek cannery of the Alaska Packers' Association, 

 on Kvichak Bay, in Western Alaska, fire destroyed also the Kasaan 

 Bay cannery of the Porter Fish Company in Southeast Alaska. 



A few hundred cases of red salmon which had been cooked but 

 once were put up by several of the canneries this season as an exper- 

 iment. The cans were cooked for one hundred minutes. An objection 

 to this process is the difficulty experienced in testing the cans, the only 

 method being to watch the tops. If there is a leak, the top will sink; 

 if the can is air-tight, the top will swell, collapsing in a few days. 



