22 THE FISHERIES OF ALASKA IN 1906. 



Under the above adverse conditions the quantity of dry-salted dog 

 salmon prepared in 1906 amounted to only 1.107,680 pounds, valued 

 at $16,969. Fortunately this decrease was more than counterbal- 

 anced by the great increase in the output of canned dog salmon. 



SMOKING. 



But one concern, the Juneau Packing Company of Juneau, is 

 equipped for smoking on a large scale, and since the close of the fish- 

 ing season of 1905 this company has prepared and shipped 20,530 

 pounds of smoked dog salmon, valued at $1,190. The same company 

 also smokes other species at this plant, particularly herring. A few 

 salmon are smoked and disposed of locally at several other points, but 

 the quantity is exceedingly small. If a good market can be built up 

 for this product, Alaska will be greatly benefited, for the supply of dog 

 salmon seems to be inexhaustible. 



FREEZING. 



The preparing of frozen salmon began in 1902 at Taku Harbor, in 

 Southeast Alaska, and the original establishment is still the only one 

 engaged in the business. The pack does not vary much from year to 

 year. The greater part of the salmon and trout prepared is shipped 

 to Europe. 



Quite a falling-off appears in the quantity of king salmon frozen in 

 1906 as compared with 1905. This, as well as the decrease shown 

 during the same period in the pack of canned king salmon, is due to 

 the great demand for king salmon from the mild-cure packers. The 

 latter seemed to be able and willing to pay almost any price in order 

 to secure the fish, and the canners and freezers were forced to be con- 

 tent with the few fish caught in their own traps, or what their own net 

 fishermen could bring in. This competition has proved very benefi- 

 cial to the fishermen, however, for before 1906 there was but a limited 

 demand for king salmon. In Southeast Alaska the king salmon appear 

 first and the fishermen can devote their entire attention to them, for 

 sockeyes and humpback salmon do not appear until the run of kings 

 has slackened. 



FRESH SALMON. 



But little attention, except to the supplying of the extremely small 

 local demand, was paid to the marketing of salmon fresh until the 

 winter of 1905. About the middle of January of that year king sal- 

 mon were observed in large numbers in the vicinity of Ketchikan, and 

 the Indians caught many for their own consumption. Several persons 

 in Ketchikan saw the possibilities of the business and sent out launches 

 to buy up all the fish possible, thus making a market for all the fish 

 caught and offering incentive to the business of catching them, the 



