286 REPORT OF COMMISSIONER OF FISH AND FISHERIES. 
other canneries on this river use flat-bottomed boats, measuring 24 feet 
over all, and 7 feet beam, with an 8-inch washrail. ‘This style of boat 
costs less than the other, and is equally efficient, especially as sand- 
bars and mudflats are scattered along the river. 
The fishermen receive 10 cents each for catching king salmon and 3 
cents each for red and silver salmon, besides $75 for assistance in 
handling the vessel on the passage to and from San Francisco. Pre- 
vious to the present season the fishermen have been paid monthly 
wages, but the change is thought to be for the better, and all the can- 
neries have agreed to the same terms. 
Forty-five cents per case is paid for putting up salmon. This in- 
eludes all the labor from the time the fish are taken from the fishermen 
until the cans are labeled and boxed for shipment. Hach cannery 
employs one reliable Chinaman to attend to the mechanical part of the 
business, and he hires the remaining men of his class, who look to him 
for their pay. He is held rigidly to his agreement by the company. 
The facilities for handling and putting up salmon are about the same 
at all the canneries on the Nushagak River. Twelve hundred is the 
largest number of cases that could be prepared in a day by each cannery, 
providing every effort was put forth, but the fish are not sufficiently 
abundant to attain that figure, and half the amount mentioned would 
be regarded as a fair day’s work. 
Salmon first make their appearance the first of June, and remain 
from 55 to 60 days. As the season is short all the needed preparations 
are made beforehand and from the middle of May until the first of June 
every man about the cannery is actively engaged in this work. 
Formerly the machinery for manufacturing cans was sent out from 
San Francisco, but it has since been found more economical to ship 
them ready-made from the latter place. Another advantage is that the 
voyage is delayed until more settled weather generally prevails. 
The first salmon were taken the past season on the morning of June 
3 by boats belonging to the Bristol Bay Canning Company. The total 
catch on that date amounted to 660 fish, producing 250 cases. This 
small catch acted as an incentive and everybody rushed to the spot 
where they had been obtained, but several days elapsed before any 
more were taken. 
The first species which enters the river is the king salmon. They 
remain about a fortnight, after which come the red salmon, followed 
closely by the silver salmon. The king salmon are first sought in the 
vicinity of Coffee Point, a high promontory situated on the west side 
of the river, where the fishermen are in the habit of coming together to 
drink their coffee after a hard night’s fishing. 
It is said that the ice has considerable effect upon the appearance of 
the salmon. Itis sometimes unusually late in breaking up in the river, 
in which case the salmon remain outside until it has disappeared and 
the temperature of the water has somewhat increased. When the 
Salmon are late in entering the river they immediately proceed up 
