224 HISTORY AND METHODS OF THE FISHERIES. 
8. FINANCIAL PROFITS OF FISHERMEN AND CURERS. 
METHODS OF SHARING THE PROFITS.—The captain of the vessel receives about $8 per 1,000 
for the entire catch. The dress-gang and salters get about $25 per month; good men, $30. As 
already explained, most of these men have a chance to catch some fish, for which they receive $25 
per 1,000, The fishermen are paid $25 per 1,000 each for his own catch. The captain keeps each 
man’s account separate. 
In 1876 wages were much higher; headers received from $30 to $35 per month; throaters, $35 
to $40; salters, $45; splitters, $65. The first two also had some time for fishing, and received $25 
per 1,000 for the fish. In this year “one man on board the schooner Selma” had 13,000 fish to his 
credit, which, at $25 per 1,000, would give him $325, exclusive of any prize. As the Selma is a 
small schooner like the Alaska and does not carry a “ dress-gang,” the pay is more likely to be 
$30 per 1,000, which would give him $390, or over $97 a month —not bad pay for a sailor. In the 
schooners the captains usually split their own fish and the men do the dressing. The captain is 
sometimes paid by the month, receiving about $120, but more generally he has an interest in the 
quantity of fish taken, and receives from $8 to $10 per 1,000. Where the vessel is very small, it 
is usual to pay the captain by the month, because 28,000 or 30,000 would be a cargo, and at $10 a 
1,000 that would bring him in only $280 or $300 for a cruise of four months.* 
I believe the average pay of a fisherman in 1879 was small, judging from the table which 
follows: 
Price, Average 
a “OEake | Re, [OPW | catching. | aan 
Wild Gazelle .......sccceenee seenerecnee= 85, 000 $25 16 $2, 125 $142 
Undannted ...... cence cee eneceeeeneeee ve 63, 000 25 8* 1,875 |acceses cee 
Sarah . 2.2... .ccenc cece es cence ence ee cennee 71, 000 | 25 17 1,778 | 111 
H. LL. Tiernan... -.2-------- scene eee een ee 97, 000 25 19 2, 425 135 |. 
General Miller ......--------e-e-eecennee 80, 000 25 15 2, 000 148 
Alaska... 00 cece ne cee nnn eee e anne ecceeee 10, 000 25 q 250 42 
J. H. Roscoe ...... 2-2-2 eee een eenen eee: 52, 000 25 13 1, 300 108 
Adelaide Cooper .......+-----secee cece 225, 000 25 32 5, 625 181 
i Fremont ...... 22.200 cenn ee eee ence eeneee 240, 000 25 32 6, 000 194 
Constitution ......0..0.-eeeee nen eeeewnee 205, 000 25 30 5, 125 177 
POZO . .-- nae neenne sn cecmccsanenencenccce 40, 000 25 15 1, 000 vel 
Gle608'ssessecheceneesssecdvesnewsdeues 133, 000 25 24* B, B25 |..eseeceee 
UNG ereesuseie cae Ge eccsaiaegemaceecs 35, 000 30 5 1,050 210 
NAZBY: scitiencee sesh saeeencnreesaetens sss 35, 000 30 5 1, 050 210 
* Number estimated. 
t The captain, of course, is excluded, except in case of the last two. 
Leaving out the exceptional cases of the Alaska and the Page, the average wages of the 
Okhotsk fishermen was $36 per month for the season of five months, and the average of the Shu- 
magin men was $32 per month for a season of four mouths. 
The average annual catch of cod at the Pirate Cove station is about 200,000 fish, of which, in 
1879, the Unga and the Nagay together caught 70,000; the balance were caught by eight men, 
each of them averaging, therefore, about 16,250 fish. At $27.50 per 1,000 the gross earnings of 
each man were $446.87, Deducting all necessary expenses, each fisherman should have nearly 
$400 for his season’s work, and his board, lodging, and fuel free. In 1880 the returns from the 
same station were 142,000 fish, of which the Unga took 35,000. Each man’s share will therefore 
*San Francisco Post, 
