208 REPORT OF COMMISSIONER OF FISH AND FISHERIES. 
The white help in the canneries is generally hired by the month, the 
wages being graded according to efficiency and responsibility. 
Close season . — It is unlawful to fish for salmon in Oregon during 
March, August, and September. In Washington fishing is not per- 
mitted in March and September. Both States prohibit fishing from G 
p. m. Saturday to the same hour Sunday during each week of the “sea- 
son.” These restrictions are applicable only to the Columbia ; they do 
not apply to the small coast rivers. Although fishing is permitted on 
the Washington side of the river in August, little or nothing is done 
during that month. There seems to be a tacit understanding between 
the packers that it is best for all that the “ season” should not continue 
beyond the limits fixed by Oregon. The law is generally observed by 
the fishermen. Occasionally one is arrested, but convictions are rare. 
The penalty for illegal fishing is not less than $500 nor more than $ 1 ,000 
for the first offense; for subsequent offenses the court may add impris- 
onment, at its discretion, the term not to exceed one year. 
Vessels and boats . — Several small screw steamers of the tugboat 
pattern, a few steam-launches, and some sailing craft are employed in 
connection with the canneries, chiefly in transporting freshly caught 
fish from the fishing stations or grounds to the packing establishments. 
In 1888 there were employed as tenders 10 steam tugs, with an aggre- 
gate tonnage of 192.04; 2 steam-launches, too small to be documented, 
but each about 4 tons measurement ; a sailing schooner of 7.43 tons ; a 
sloop of 10.43 tons ; and a sloop-rigged boat of about 4 tons ; these had 
an aggregate value of $62,450. They were manned by 50 men, nearly 
all Americans by birth. 
In 1889 the steamer City of Astoria was built and added to the fleet, 
and the steamer Fisher (formerly the Frolic ), which had been idle dur- 
ing the previous season, was employed as a tender. The former was 
29.64 tons and the latter 32.09 tons. Thus two steamers, with an ag- 
gregate tonnage of 61.73 tons, a total value of about $15,000, and crews 
averaging 4 men each, were added to the fleet of tenders in 1889. 
The boats employed in fishing are almost wholly of two types, viz, the 
gill-net boat and the seine boat. 
In the Columbia Kiver fisheries it is common to have square-ended 
flat-bottomed scows moored at certain favorable points near the fishing 
grounds. These scows are housed over and are utilized as receiving 
depots for the canneries. They are about 30 feet long and 12 to 15 feet 
wide. A cannery agent is on-board each scow to receive, count, and 
record the catch when the fish are brought in. The salmon are thrown 
on board the scow, each boat or.pound net is credited with its “tally” 
on a pass book carried by the fishermen, and at the proper time the 
tender comes along and the fish are soon transported to the cannery. 
The tugs visit both scows and boats and pick up all the fish they can 
get. As the salmon move up the river and the fishing ground changes 
