144 REPORT OF THE COMMISSIONER OF FISHERIES. 
$315,300. There were also employed 751 gill-net boats, 107 dories 
and skiffs, 74 scows, and 5 pile drivers, valued at $168,275. Connected 
with the fishery were 25 small steamers and launches, ranging in size 
from 2 to 118 tons and valued at $111,118. 
In recent years the cold-storage plants have received the largest and 
best chinook salmon, which they bought for 5 cents per pound for 
fish weighing less than 25 pounds and 6 cents per pound for fish 
weighing 25 pounds and over; in some instances 7 cents a pound was 
paid for choice fish. In consequence of the advance in price paid by 
the cold-storage plants, the packers have not always been supplied 
with fish as large as desired for canning purposes, and the cannery 
men have found it more profitable to dispose of the especially large 
fish to the cold-storage plants than to can them. ‘To protect themselves 
and in the future to be able to handle all grades of fish, many of the 
cannery firms are arranging to have cold-storage and mild-curing 
plants connected with their establishments. Already a few have done 
so, and should the demand for mild-cured and frozen salmon continue 
to increase as it has in the last few years, it is predicted that in a short 
time all the canneries on the Columbia River will be constructed for 
handling both frozen and mild-cured fish. 
t will be noticed by referring to the accompanying tables that the 
pack of steelheads for Oregon in 1903 amounted to a little over 7,000 
cases. This decrease in quantity was owing to the large demand for 
frozen fish, a large portion of the catch being utilized in this manner; 
the cold-storage plants handled nearly 850,000 pounds, or 12,500 
cases. 
At times shad are plentiful in the Columbia River, but they are 
chiefly taken incidentally in traps and seines. There is comparatively 
a small demand for this fish, and large numbers are allowed to escape, 
although some shipments are made to Portland and various points on 
Puget Sound. As an experiment, the Sanborn Cutting Company, of 
Astoria, recently packed 1,292 cases of shad, but so far as is known 
there has been little or no sale for them. The fish were prepared, 
packed, and cooked in the same manner as salmon, and it 1s believed 
by the packers that could a market be created for this product, an 
industry of considerable importance would result. 
The packing of salmon bellies and tips is an experiment undertaken 
by the Tallant & Grant Packing Company, of Astoria. Two hundred 
cases of each were put up in 1903, a case holding 4 cans, the weight 
of each can being 124 pounds, or 50 pounds of fish to the case. The 
price of a can of bellies is $2.50, or $10 a case, of the tips, $1.50 a can, 
or $6 a case. Only asmall portion of a fish is used for this purpose, 
the remainiug part being packed in the usual way, and it is only when 
salmon are scarce that they are put up in this manner. It is under- 
