FISHERIES OF WASHINGTON AND BRITISH COLUMBIA. 321 



Indian women and children are employed to clean the fish after they 

 have been eviscerated, being members, generally, of the families of the 

 fishermen who are operating in the same neighborhood. 



It is important to note in this connection the amount of waste which 

 occurs in the preparation of salmon for canning. In cutting off the 

 heads, tails, and fins sufficient care is not always exercised, and much 

 flesh suitable for canning too often goes with the refuse. This improvi- 

 dence is largely owing to the abundance of fish, and it is scarcely to be 

 exi3ected that a remedy for it can be found while the supplies continue so 

 prolific. The total "loss in weight to the fish during this process, 

 including the removal of the entrails, ranges from 25 to 50 per cent, 

 and is probably seldom less than 30 to 40 per cent. The greater part 

 of the waste is of course unavoidable, and the most that can be hoped 

 for in this regard is that some use will soon be found for it. 



fishermen's prices. 



The prices which the fishermen receive for their catch depend upon 

 the species and fluctuate in accordance with the supply and demand. 

 They vary markedly in different parts of the same season as well as 

 in diff*erent years. The matter is mostly regulated by the canneries 

 during the period when they are in operation. When the quinnat first 

 begin running on the Eraser River in the s})ring and are in greatest 

 demand for the Eastern trade they may bring as much as from $1 to 

 $1.25 apiece, but the price soon falls, reaching 75 cents and even less. 

 The highest price which the British Columbian drift-netters obtain for 

 sockeye is about 25 cents each, but this figure prevails only at the 

 beginning of a season or during one in which the catch is small and 

 causes a sharp competition among buyers. As the season advances 

 and the fish become more abundant it may fall off to any figure as low 

 as 15 and even 10 cents, while during summers when extraordinary 

 runs occur 6 or 7 cents may be as much as a fisherman can expect to 

 receive, and even then not all of his fish may be wanted. In 1S97 

 many were glad to get as high as 3 cents, and a large part of the catch 

 was refused at any price. The customary range in price, however, is 

 from 15 to 25 cents. 



At Point Roberts it is said that, except when sockeye are scarce, the 

 <cost of their capture by trap nets is much lower than the prices paid 

 on the Fraser River, and it is iirobably the same elsewhere when fish 

 are abundant. In this way the Washington canneries which obtain 

 their supplies from this source are considered to have a marked advan- 

 tage over the Canadian. The sockeye taken in the reef nets at Point 

 Roberts, Lummi Island, and the southern end of the San Juan Islands 

 were bringing 10 and 15 cents apiece in 1894 and 1895, but the Indians 

 are often paid no more than 5 to 8 cents for them. 



From 5 to 8 cents is a common price for silver salmon, while dog 

 salmon range from 2 to C cents apiece. During the winter the steel- 

 head bring about 3 to 4 cents a pound for the fresh markets. 



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