14 



THE FISHERIES OF ALASKA IN 1906. 



A very good method of bringing light-weight cans to the proper 

 standard is now in use at one of the canneries. Instead of filHng 

 up the can with salt water, as is the general custom, a soup made 

 from salmon is used. Great care is exercised in the preparation of 

 this, it being strained carefully several times. 



Employees. — The fishermen engaged in 1906 numbered 3,405, of 

 whom more than two-thirds were whites. All the rest, with the 

 exception of 10 Japanese, were Indians. The camiery employees 

 numbered 6,868, among whom the Chinese were most numerous, 

 the Japanese almost as many. The transporters numbered 474, 

 and comprised 395 whites and 79 Indians. In all, 10,747 persons 

 were employed in the salmon-canning industry. 



Employees in the Salmon-Canning Industry in 1906. 



Investment. — Of the transporting vessels, there were 116 steamers 

 and launches, valued at $1,211,375, and 45 sailing vessels, valued 

 at $1,145,650. Most of the sailing vessels are utilized in Western 

 Alaska, where, owing to the lack of established lines of regular com- 

 munication with the rest of the world, it is necessary for the cannery 

 operators each season to bring up all their employees and supplies 

 and in the fall to carry back home the employees and the finished 

 pack. The vessels remain at anchor in the vicinity of their respec- 

 tive canneries throughout the season. Gill nets were the most 

 numerous kind of apparatus, there being in all 1,183, the most of 

 them in Western Alaska. Purse seines to the number of 112 were 

 employed, these exclusively in Southeast Alaska, while haul seines 

 to the number of 90 were used in Southeast and Central Alaska. Of 

 traps, 60 in all were used, distributed as follows: Southeast Alaska, 

 29; Central Alaska, 13; and Western Alaska, 18. There was a de- 

 crease of 2 in Southeast Alaska and of 10 in Central Alaska, and an 



