8-4 HErOUT OF STATE BOARD OF FISH COMMISSIONERS. 



regarded as little better until comparatively recently, Avhen it has been 

 placed on the market in cans as " Pink Salmon." It sells for about half 

 the price of the red salmon and one third that of the quinnat. The red 

 salmon is smaller than the quinnat but, outside the Sacramento and the 

 Columbia, far more abundant, and at present it exceeds the quinnat in 

 economic value. The pack of red salmon in Alaska amounted in 1902 

 to over two million cases (48 pounds each), worth wholesale about $4.00 

 per case, or about $8,000,000. The other species in Alaska yield about 

 one million cases, the total wholesale value of the pack for 1902 being 

 $8,667,673. The aggregate value of the quinnat is considerably less, 

 but either species far exceed in vakie all other fishes of the Pacific 

 taken together. The silver salmon is found in the inland waters of 

 Puget Sound for a considerable time before the fall rains cause the 

 fall runs, and it may be taken in large numbers with seines before the 

 season for entering the rivers. 



The fall salmon of all species, but especially of the dog salmon, ascend 

 streams but a short distance before spawning. They seem to be in great 

 anxiety to find fresh water, and many of them work their way up little 

 brooks only a few inches deep, where they perish miserably, floundering 

 about on the stones. Every stream, of whatever kind, from San Fran- 

 cisco to Bering Sea, has more or less of these fall salmon. 



The absence of the fine spring salmon in the streams of Japan is the 

 cause of the relative unimportance of the river fisheries of the northern 

 island of Japan, Hokkaido. It is not likely that either the quinnat or 

 the red salmon can be introduced into these rivers, as they have no 

 snow-fed streams, and few of them pass through lakes which are not 

 shut off by waterfalls. For the same reason neither of these species is 

 likely to become naturalized in the waters of our Eastern States, though 

 it is worth while to bring the red salmon to the St. Lawrence. The 

 silver salmon, already abundant in Japan, should thrive in the waters 

 and bays of New England. 



Salmon-Packing. — The canning of salmon, that is, the packing of the 

 flesh in tin cases, hermetically sealed after boiling, was begun on the 

 Columbia River by the Hume Brothers in 1866. In 1874 canneries 

 were established on the Sacramento River, in 1876 on Puget Sound and 

 on Eraser River, and in 1878 in Alaska. At first only the quinnat sal- 

 mon was packed; afterwards the red salmon and the silver salmon, and 

 finally the humpback, known commercially as pink salmon. In most 

 cases the flesh is packed in one-pound tins, forty-eight of which consti- 

 tute a case. The wholesale price in 1903 was for quinnat salmon $5.60 

 per case, red salmon $4.00, silver salmon $2.60, humpback salmon $2.00, 

 and dog salmon $1.50. It costs in round numbers $2.00 to pack a case 

 of salmon. The very low price of the inferior brands is due to over- 

 production. 



