260 REPORT OF COMMISSIONER OF FISH AND FISHERIES. 
When fish are running in good numbers ten to fifteen Indians form a crew for a 
reef net, and a haul cau be made every minute or two if necessary. Some of the In- 
dians are very expert at this kind of fishing, and have taken as many as 2,000 salmon 
in a day. In such cases the clutchmen come out with canoes and boat the fish ashore 
so that the operations of those engaged in fishing will not be interrupted. 
The origin of this style of fishing is attributed to one of the Hudson Bay Com- 
pany’s employes, who the Indians say taught them a long time ago how to catch 
salmon in this manner. At first, they state, their nets were made from the fiber of 
cedar bark. This style of reef fishing will never be profitable for white men, since 
it requires too many hands to operate the net, and there are so many days that fishing 
can not be prosecuted because of muddy water, strong tide rips, etc. 
The long ebb and two-thirds of the flood tide run over the reef, and during the set 
of these tides is the right time for fishing, when the current is not swifter than f> 
knots an hour. On high course tides, however, particularly when there is a strong 
wind blowing outside, the current often reaches a velocity of 8 knots, and reef fishing 
at such times is impracticable. 
Salmon canning . — Although the waters of Puget Sound are capable 
of maintaining a large salmon fishery, the business of canning salmon 
has as yet reached only small proportions. Only four factories were 
located on the Sound in 1888, and all of these were in the vicinity of 
Seattle or controlled by Seattle parties. One located about 4 miles north 
of that city was burned in July, 1889; the precise location of the other 
canneries was, one at Seattle, one at West Seattle, and one at the mouth 
of the Skywamish River, about 75 miles due north of Seattle. 
The 4 canneries were valued at $41,000 and had a cash capital of 
$68,000; they had 141 employes ; 1,538,250 pounds of fish were utilized, 
with a value to the fishermen of $26,665 ; 21,975 cases were packed, 
valued at $126,356 ; and 150 barrels of salt salmon were prepared. 
THE HALIBUT FISHERY. 
The halibut fishery from Puget Sound and vicinity can be broadly 
classified under two heads, the vessel fishery and the shore market 
fishery. Such matters as relate to the fresh and salt halibut fishery, to 
the employment of Indians in the shore fishery, to the supplies of halibut 
obtained and cured by the Indians for their own use, etc., will appear 
incidentally in the discussion. But, for obvious reasons, most atten tion 
will be given here to the vessel fishery, which many hope may develop 
into a large commercial enterprise. 
The vessel fishery . — The vessels, fishermen, boats, apparatus, and meth- 
ods of capture employed in the vessel fishery were identical with those 
of New England, and the'same system of sharing the proceeds, or u half 
lay,” was observed as at eastern ports. These have been so fully dis- 
cussed in previous publications of the Fish Commission (see vol. i, sec. 
V, Fisheries and Fishery Industries of the United States) that it seems 
unnecessary to refer to them at length here. It will suffice to say that 
the vessels ranged from 81.28 tons to 117 tons in size. They were some 
of the best New England clippers. The men had been trained in the 
