REPORT OF COMMISSIONER OF FISH AND FISHERIES. XXIII 



of the salteries of Alaska for 1897 may be given as 10,658 barrels of 

 redfish, 660 barrels of cohoes, 292 barrels of king salmon, 5,691 balf 

 barrels of humpback bellies, and 575 balf barrels of miscellaneous. 



Tbe general importance of tbe salmon resources of Alaska may be 

 seen from tbe following summary of tbe pack of canned salmon, classi- 

 fied by districts, from 1878 — tbe year in wbicb tbe business began — to 

 1897. From tbe very small initial pack of 8,159 cases the output bas 

 grown in less than twenty years to nearly 1,000,000 cases, tbe pack in 

 1896 being 966,000 cases and tbat in 1897 909,000 cases. In the regions 

 of Cook Inlet, Prince William Sound, and Copper Eiver salmon fishing 

 is as yet comparatively light, but in southeastern Alaska, in Bering 

 Sea, and at Kadiak and Chignik it is very extensive and tends to 

 increase each year. The quantity of fresh salmon represented by the 

 pack of 1897 was about 60,000,000 pounds, and the weight of the fish 

 as canned was nearly 44,000,000 pounds. 



The total pack of canned salmon in the twenty years indicated is 

 seen to have been 7,508,358 cases of 48 one-pound cans. This quantity, 

 with the 145,000 barrels of salmon which have been salted in the same 

 period, represents over 600,000,000 pounds of fresh salmon taken from 

 the waters of Alaska. The market value of the canned and salted 

 product was a little over $32,000,000. 



Summary, by districts, of the cases of salmon canned in Alaska from 1878 to 1897. 



During the cruise of the Albatross fishery trials were carried on 

 whenever opportunity offered, the efforts being especially directed 

 toward the location of halibut banks. Halibut trawls were set in all 

 localities, and every opportunity was taken to make inquiries. These 

 fish were obtained everywhere, but not in large numbers excepting off 

 Killisnoo. No great success was met with at Clarence Strait, which is 

 a favorite halibut- ground, and the small vessels which sometimes visit 

 this point for halibut have no certainty of finding a load. The Indians 

 take without difficulty a sufficient supply for their own use, and, while 



