THE RELATIONS OF FISH TO MAN 293 



flesh in tin cases, hermetically sealed after boiling, was begun on 

 the Columbia River in 1S66. In 1874 canneries were established 

 on the Sacramento River, in 1876 on Puget Sound and on the 

 Frazer River, and in 1878 in Alaska. At first only the quinnat 

 salmon was packed ; afterwards the red salmon and the silver 

 salmon, and finally the humpback, known commercially as 

 pink salmon. 



" The output of the salmon fishery of the Pacific coast 

 amounts to about fifteen millions per year, that of Alaska con- 

 stituting seven to nine millions of this amount. Of this amount 

 the red salmon constitutes somewhat more than half, the quinnat 

 about four fifths of the rest. 



" In almost all salmon streams there is evidence of considera- 

 ble diminution in numbers, although the evidence is sometimes 

 conflicting. In Alaska this has been due to the vicious custom, 

 now done away with, of barricading the streams so that the fish 

 could not reach the spawning grounds, but might all be taken 

 with the net. In the Columbia River the reduction in numbers 

 is mainly due to stationary traps and salmon wheels, which leave 

 the fish relatively little chance to reach the spawning grounds. 

 In years of high water doubtless many salmon run in the spring 

 which might otherwise have waited until fall. 



" The key to the situation lies in the artificial propagation of 

 salmon by means of well-ordered hatcheries. By this means the 

 fisheries of the Sacramento have been fully restored, those of the 

 Columbia approximately maintained, and a hopeful beginning 

 has been made in hatching red salmon in Alaska " (Jordan). 



The Value of the Fishing Industry. — The value of the fishing 

 industry may be judged from statistics obtained at Boston and 

 Gloucester, where about seven eighths of all the fish captured 

 offshore along the Atlantic coast are brought by the fishermen. 

 During the calendar year, 1908, 181,465,000 pounds of fish, worth 

 to the fishermen $4,629,000, were landed at these two cities. 

 The most important species were the cod, haddock, hake, pol- 

 lock, halibut, and mackerel. The salmon fisheries of Alaska are 



