318 REPORT OF COMMISSIONER OF FISH AND FISHERIES. 



The local trade in salmon is relatively large in comparison with the 

 extent of population, the low i)rice at which they can generally be 

 obtained, especially the least desirable commercial forms, placing them 

 within the reach of all. Many of the inhabitants fish for their own 

 table, using nets and spears in the rivers and the trolling hook in salt 

 water. The Indians have always depended very largely' on the salmon, 

 one of their chief occupations having been the preparation of a large 

 winter stock by drying. In some places, where they have come much 

 in contact with the whites and are receiving pay for their labor or 

 catch, this custom is not so strictly followed, if at all, but the total 

 Indian consumption in British Columbia is estimated in the official 

 statistics at a very high figure. 



CANNERIES. 



In that part of British Columbia here under consideration the can- 

 ning industry seems always to have been confined to the Fraser Eiver, 

 for the reasons undoubtedly that it is the only place where the sockeye 

 can be taken abundantly and where the other species of salmon may 

 also be captured more readily than elsewhere. The first cannery on the 

 Fraser was apparently built at Brownsville, opposite New Westmin- 

 ster, about 1870 or 1871. It was removed to jSTew Westminster in 

 1873 and one or more small ones in addition are said to have been in 

 operation the same year, when the total output of canned goods was 

 reported at about 390,000 pounds. The regular series of statistics for 

 the British Columbian coast date from 1S7G, when there were 3 can- 

 neries with a total pack of 511,050 pounds. In 1883 the number had 

 increased to 12, but it fell off the following year to 6, and was the same 

 in 1885. Since then, however, there has been a steady and rapid 

 increase, their number amounting to 31 in 1895 and to 15 in 1898. 



Changes have taken place in the location of the canneries, which are 

 interesting to note. The industry was formerly carried on more exten- 

 sively in the upper part of the drift-net region, there having been at 

 one time as many as 4 canneries in the neighborhood of New West- 

 minster, where now there is only 1. The center of the canning business 

 has worked down the river, as the fishing has been carried more and 

 more in that direction. Ladner and Canoe Pass became the centers 

 for a time, but it has now been transferred to Steveston, at the main 

 entrance to the river, where in 1895 about one-half the total number of 

 canneries was located. This place is now most centrally situated with 

 regard to the more productive fisheries, having on one side those of the 

 outer grounds and on the other those in the lower part of the river. In 

 1895 there were only 6 canneries above the village of Ladner, 15 at 

 Steveston, the remainder being on the south bank from Ladner to 

 Canoe Pass. The number of canneries on the Fraser River, together 

 with the pack in each year since the beginning of the industry, is 

 given in the statistical table for British Columbia. 



