SALMON PRODUCT 235 



To-day (1914) the supply of Alaskan salmon seems to be 

 well sustained. The total catch for the season of 1912-13 

 was 3,739,185 cases, 38,332 barrels, and 7,656,205 pounds, 

 having a total cash value of $14,448,234. In 1911 the total 

 number of salmon caught was "over 43,975,000 fish," which 

 in view of the average size of Alaskan salmon fairly chal- 

 lenges the imagination. The catch of 1913 was the largest 

 ever taken in Alaska. It should also be noted that in 1911 

 five private salmon-hatcheries took a total of 276,363,500 

 eggs, for propagating, of the red, humpbacked and silver 

 salmon. 



In 1912 there were 64 salmon canneries in Alaska, employ- 

 ing 17,900 persons, and representing $22,671,000 of invested 

 capital. It seems reasonably certain that the successful 

 preservation of the industry is due to the intelligent and 

 thorough governmental supervision that has been established 

 since 1904, superseding the "wide-open" situation that existed 

 at that time. Unfortunately, our Pacific coast fisheries are 

 not in an equally prosperous condition. 



The Quinnat Salmon, 1 also called Chinook, California, 

 King, Columbia River and Sacramento Salmon, is the largest, 

 the most widely distributed and the most valuable of the 

 Pacific Salmon. Frequently it attains a weight of 50 pounds, 

 and specimens have been taken in Alaskan waters weighing 

 about 100 pounds. Its average weight is between 20 and 30 

 pounds. It is found from Monterey Bay, California, up the 



1 The scientific name of this fish, On-co-rhyn'chus tscha-wyts'cha, is presented 

 with an apology to the reader. The specific name is useful only as an example of 

 the disgusting barbarism to which an ill-balanced mind can sometimes descend in 

 choosing names. 



