THE SALMON FISHERIES OF THE SACRAMENTO RIVER. 733 



There are two great "rims" of salmon daring the year. The first one begins about the middle 

 of April, the second about the middle of August, and they last about forty days each. The can- 

 neries usually begin about the 15th of April and run until the 1st of August, when the "close 

 season" begins. They begin again September 15, when the fishermen are allowed to commence 

 fishing, wheu they run as long as the supply of fish will warrant, which is generally from three to 

 four weeks. During the canning season each boat is expected to catch from tweuty to one 

 hundred fish daily, and sometimes they exceed this. From the end of the canning season the 

 salmon continually grow scarcer through the winter, until, in January and February, the boats 

 scarcely average one fish a day. The salmon average 15 to 20 pounds each. 



While the canneries are not running all the salmon caught are shipped to the San Francisco 

 markets. They are shipped exclusively oo the river steamers. Each regular shipping place has 

 a small building on the wharf for the reception of the fish. They are each marked with the owner's 

 private mark, usually an eye gouged out, the snout cut off, or a cut of some particular shape 

 on the gill covers. From 1 to 2 cents per salmon is charged for wharfage, and from 5 to 8 cents 

 each for transportation. 



During the canning season each boat is allowed to ship only 40 fish a week to the San Francisco 

 markets. This is to prevent the market from being overstocked and is a law the fishermen have 

 imposed on themselves. The remainder of the fish caught are sold, at a price fixed during the 

 season, to the canneries, providing that the canneries and fisherman can agree on a price and that 

 more fish are not caught than the canneries can put up. 



When the canneries refuse to accept all the salmon caught, the fishermen preserve the surplus 

 by salting or by salting and smoking. It is also asserted that much fishing is done during the 

 "close season," and the fish cured. This curing is done exclusively by the fishermen themselves. 



The fish are salted in metal tanks about 8 feet in diameter and 5 feet deep. One of these 

 will hold about 500 salmon at a time. The process of salting and preparing for shipment takes 

 about two weeks. They are usually packed in half-barrels for shipment, but Mr. William Hosking, 

 of Colliusville, states that he has shipped them in tierces to London, and that after having twice 

 crossed the tropics they arrived at their destination in good order. Salted salmon are extremely 

 \ a liable in price, but probably average 20 cents each. 



In smoking salmon the salted fish are carefully washed and scrubbed, then dried for a day 

 and hung up in a smoke-house in which is kept up a slow fire, usually of oak wood. It takes 

 about a week to smoke salmon, and they find a ready sale at 40 cents per head. 



SALMON CANNING ON THE LOWER SACRAMENTO IN 1880. 



The salmon pack has been heavy on the Sacramento this year. There have been ten canneries 

 at work'* four in San Francisco, one at Beuicia, three in the vicinity of Collinsville, one at Court- 

 laud, and one at Sacramento. Those in San Francisco and the one at Benicia pack other goods as 

 well as fish. 



Those packing in San Francisco had their fish shipped down the river by steamer or schooner, 

 and the salmon were often old and unfit for canning before they were delivered. This was partic- 

 ularly true towards the last of the season, wheu the fish could only be caught well up the river. 

 At this time the salmon brought in to be canned were in such condition that I think they could 

 hardly be wholesome food, and with such an article placed on the market it is no wonder that the 

 Sacramento fish bear an indifferent reputation. 



The spring run was fairly good, and was remarkable for its uneveuness and the length of 

 time it lasted. The fish seemed to come up in a succession of schools, and while usually the run 



