66 



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6* 



PACIFIC FISHERMAN 



The Salmon Canning Industry of Siberia 



To the salmon fishery interests of this coast the de- 

 velopment of the latent salmon resources of Siberia have 

 become of increasing importance as the years go by. 



As yet the industry is virtually in its infancy so far as 

 the canning of salmon is concerned, although the salting of 

 salmon has been carried on for a number of years, and, 



CANNERY OP S. GEOOSHET3KT & CO. 



despite the primitive methods followed, is at present of 

 considerable importance. 



The devolopment of the fisheries has been greatly re- 

 tarded by the Russians, who, while lacking practical knowl- 

 edge of how best to prosecute the fisheries, and also lack- 

 ing the capital necesary to finance them, yel are not willing 

 to allow foreigners to exploit them. It is true that the 

 Japanese have taken the lead in such development as has 

 occurred, but this result has really been forced upon the 

 Russians, owing to the proximity of the Japanese and the 

 treaty rights they have had since L905, Which give them 

 the same fishing rights along the coasts as the Russians. 

 As usual in Russian territory, there arc a number of vex- 

 atious and sometimes unnecessary laws, by-laws and local 

 regulations which greatly hamper the development of the 

 fisheries, especially if the holder of a concession be a 

 Japanese, while the tenure of the concession — one year 

 absolutely precludes the holder, without a special under- 

 standing, from erecting other than temporary buildings, 

 and installing no more machinery than can he conveniently 

 carried away at the end of the fishing season. 



The first cannery to be established in Siberia was about 

 1898, when the Kamchatkan Trading Co. imported a com- 

 plete plant from San Francisco, which was first set up at 

 Petropavlovsk and subsequently transferred to Ust-Kam 

 chatka, at the mouth of the Kamchatka liver. Practically 

 nothing was ever done with this plant, and ultimately it 

 came to a peaceful end through decay. 



In 1907 two canneries were established in the estuary oi 

 the Amur river, near Nikolaiefski, hut beyond getting out 

 samples they were never operated. 



In 1910 A. G. Denbigh built a modern cannerj near the 

 second site of the Kamchatkan Trading Co. That year the 

 cannery produced only about 10,000 cases, lint each year 

 since he has added to and improved the plant until in 1913 

 the pack amounted to 60,000 cases. Early in 1914 'be 

 company installed a complete one-line plant of the Hliss 

 sanitary can-making and can-packing machinery in this 

 cannery. 



In 1912 Mr. Denbigh built another cannery one and one- 

 half miles away from the above plant. This cannery was 

 first operated with German and Norwegian sanitary ma- 

 chinery, but in 1914 a two-line sanitary Bliss can-packing 

 plant was installed. In 1914 the two canneries together 

 packed 73.000 cases. The one can-making plant makes all 

 the cans needed at the two canneries. 



Mr. Denbigh also operates a hand cannery at Com- 

 pocowa, on the west side of the Kamchatka Peninsula. 



In 1912 a Tokyo company — Ichigumi & Company — put 

 up two canneries near the Ozernaya river in Kamchatka, 

 while a Japanese from Xiigata also put up a small plant 

 in the same vicinity. That year the two companies packed 

 about 13.500 cases of salmon all told. These were cheaply 

 built plants and worked witli hand-power machinery and 

 small vertical retorts. 



The same year Ichigumi & Co. put up another hand- 

 power cannery and Tsutsutni & Co., of Hakodate, built 

 two others of the same type, near the Kamchatka river, on 

 the east coast. 



In 1913 Tsutsumi & Co. built a modern sanitary can- 

 nery at Ozernaya, and installed a complete line of the 

 American Can Co.'s can-making and can-packing machinery. 



In 1913 Ichigumi & Co. put up i wo hand canneries near 

 i lie Kamchatka river, having succeeded to the concessions 

 formerly held here by Tsutsumi & Co. In 1914 they built 

 a modern plant and installed one line of Bliss sanitary 

 can-making and can-packing machinery. 



For some years the St. Petersburg firm of S. Grooshetsky 

 & Co.. operating as the Pacific Ocean Sea Industry Asso- 

 ciation, has been engaged in the freezing of salmon and in 

 the preparation of salmon caviar. In 1914 this companj 



Ni ITE.— Detaili d figures of the Siberian pack oi Canned Sal- 

 mon for i:U4. and preceding years, will P.- found in tin' sta- 

 tistical section. 



CANNERY CREW WALKING FROM SHIP TO SHORE 

 OVER THE ICE. 



erected a cannery near Ozernaya and installed in it a 

 full line of the American Can Company's sanitary can- 

 making and can-packing machinery. The buildings are of 

 iron and are on the south bank of the river, while the fish- 

 ing station is on the opposite bank, the salmon being 

 brought across by means of an aerial tramway stretched 

 from the station across the river and to the cannery itself. 

 At the present time there are five plants operated with 

 modern machinery, viz.: S. Grooshetsky & Co., Tsutsumi 

 & Co., A. G. Denbigh, two; and Ichigumi & Co. In addition 

 there were in 1914 12 Japanese hand canneries operated on 



I. 



ttimmv 



CANNERY OF TSUTSUMI & COMPANY. 



