194 REPORT OF COMMISSIONER OF FISH AND FISHERIES. 
are operated at several places along tlie river. One reach is located 
just below the cannery on Idlewild Point, one on the east side and 
another on the west side of McLean’s Point, on the north shore of the 
river^ and two others almost directly opposite the latter place. Native 
clam ( Cuneus ) beds are located on the flats just below Coquille Point, 
in the “ bay.” There are also several beds of oysters on both sides of 
the river near Oysterville, and the eastern clam (My a) is abundant. 
The sea Ashing grounds are located about a mile or so at sea from the 
harbor entrance. They are believed to be unimportant. 
Fishermen , lay, etc. — Seventy-eight men are engaged in the fisheries 
of this river. As a rule they follow the salmon fishery, though 20 of 
them engage in the oyster business at the proper season. * 
A number of the nets and boats are owned by the factory operators, 
in which case the fishermen receive but 2 cents per pound for all the 
salmon they take. Where fishermen own the nets and boats the factories 
buy the catch at the rate of 3 cents per pound. 
Apparatus and boats .— The gill nets are from 100 to 125 fathoms in 
length, 16 feet deep, and have a mesh from 6£ to 9 inches, according to 
the kind of fish caught. The seines are, for the most part, made from old 
drift nets. A number of pound nets were put down in 1887, but on 
account of great quantities of grass fouling them few fish were caught, 
and their use was abandoned. During 1888 but one pound net and one 
wooden “trap” or weir were in operation. 
The Columbia River salmon boat and the flat-bottomed bateau are 
used on the river. 
Disposition of products . — Most of the salmon taken on the river are 
sold to the canneries, though a considerable quantity is shipped by ex- 
press to the interior towns. The canneries purchased 352,344 pounds 
of salmon in 1888, and 147,806 pounds were forwarded by express in a 
fresh state. 
The products of the oyster fishery are shipped by steamer to San 
Francisco and by rail to the interior. The shipments average about 60 
sacks by steamer and 10 by rail per week. Each sack contains 110 
pounds, the wholesale price being $2.50 per sack ; retail price, $3. 
Salmon canning . — The salmon-canning industry was begun on this 
river in 1887, when two small factories were started, and a third was 
built the following year. The total output of these three establish- 
ments in 1888 amounted to 5,088 cases. In addition to the salmon 
taken on the Yaquina River, the canneries purchased 40,764 pounds of 
salmon from the Indians on the Siletz River Indian Reservation, paying 
the same price per pound as was given to the fishermen on the Yaquina. 
The three canneries are located as follows: One on Idlewild Point, below 
Oysterville, another a short distance above that town, the third on the 
south side of the stream to the eastward of that place. 
The tables which follow give in detail the extent of the fisheries of 
Yaquina River and Bay in 1888. 
