SALMON FISHERIES OF ALASKA 

 Alaska salmon pack o/1889 — Continued. 



43 



Arrived 



Oct. 27 

 28 

 28 

 28 

 28 

 29 

 29 

 29 

 29 

 30 

 3L 

 3 

 3 

 4 

 5 

 9 

 10 



Nov. 



Vessel. 



Dora, str 



Hera, sch 



Hattie Gage, str 



Coryphene, bk 



Bertha, sti 



Beulah, sch 



Quickstep, bkt 



Dora, str 



Karluk, str 



Nic. Thayer, bk 



Undaunted, sch 



Hope.bk 



Alaska, str 



Arago, sch 



Signal, str 



Haytien Republic, str. 



Corona, str 



Various 



Barrels. 



693 



375 



481 

 139 



Cases. 



Agents. 



108 

 3,287 



605 



21, 833 



8,939 



11, 370 



12, 364 

 108 



3,462 

 16, 592 



19, 122 



3,763 

 18,500 

 18, 538 

 8,952 

 9,286 



Alaska Commercial Co. 

 Golden Gate Salmon Co. 

 Scotchler & Gibbs. 

 Hume Packing Co. 

 Karluk Packing Co. 

 N". Pacif. Trading and Packing Co. 

 Alaska Improvement Co. 

 Thin Point Packing Co. 

 Karluk Packing Co. 

 Arctic Packing Co. 

 Bowen, Colwell & Co. 

 Aleutian Island Fshg. &. Mng. Co. 

 Arctic Packing Co. 

 Baranoff Packing Co. 

 Bristol Bay Canning Co. 

 Kodiak Packing Co. 

 Various. 

 Do. 



PREPARATION OF FISHERY PRODUCTS. 



The native methods of curing salmon by sun drying and smoking have been so 

 often described that 1 need not refer to them here. The processes of canning have 

 also been fully recorded. The following notes on the method of salting Humpback 

 Salmon at St. Paul will sufficiently describe the method of salting in general. Salt- 

 ing Humpbacks began at St. Paul about the 10th of July. The first dory load of 

 " colored " fish was brought in July 29. The percentage of both sexes, whose flesh is 

 becoming light while the skin grows darker, is large. One can tell with almost cer- 

 tainty from looking at the outside just what the inside appearance of the fish will prove 

 to be; a bright silvery female and a male with scarcely developed hump will show 

 flesh of a very pretty pink, though not so red as in the nerka ; a fish with dark slaty 

 sides and head will have pale flesh ; of course the male and female in the height of the 

 breeding season have very pale meat. 



The gorbuscha exceeds in numbers all the other species ; in the prime condition it 

 is as good to eat as any other salmon. The salting season for prime fish is short, only 

 a few weeks as a rule. 



The dory carries three men who seine the fish best on half or three-fourths tide and 

 bring them to the wharf to be split for salting. The load averages 10 barrels of eighty 

 fish each. A little saltpeter is used to set the pink color and, if possible, deepen it. 

 A boy gaffs the fish to a place near the splitting table, where another boy cuts off the 

 heads and passes the body to the splitters. The two splitters make a cut along the 

 left side near the dorsal outline, ending it with a little downward curve on the tail. 

 The viscera are scraped out and the backbone cut away ; a few moves of the knife 

 scrape away the blood and other gurry, and then the fish are thrown into a washing 

 vat with two compartments, one for red fleshed fish, the other for pale. The Aleuts 

 buy the latter and are said to prefer the male with a decided hump. At all events 

 they select such fish when given permission to take some home for the table. After 



