REPOKT OF THE COMMISSIONER OF FISHERIES. 145 



stood that about twenty years ag'o a few cases of this product were put 

 on the market, but there being- no demand for it the project was soon 

 abandoned. At the present time, however, there is considerable call 

 for this article of food among the iirst-class hotels and restaurants. 



California. — California ranks last in importance in the production 

 of canned salmon, having only'three canneries, two situated on the 

 Sacramento Eiver and one at Requa in the northern part of the state^ 

 The pack in 1903 amounted to 12,102 cases, with a value of ^05,359. 

 The pack for 1902 was 17,246 cases, with a value of $93,128, and in 

 1901 it was 18,309 cases, valued at $106,182. The value of the can- 

 neries and accessory property is approximate!}^ $80,000, and they 

 gave emplo3auent to 221 men, of whom 37 were regular fishermen. 

 Besides this number, however, many men engaged in fishing for the 

 markets of San Francisco and Sacramento at times disposed of their 

 catch at the canneries and cold-storage plants. The Carquinez Packing 

 Company, on the Sacram.ento River, owns no boats or nets, but pur- 

 chases all of its fish, and during the season of 1903 took fish from 212 

 fishermen. The Black Diamond Canning Company also obtained most 

 of its fish in this manner. 



The spring pack of the Carquinez Packing Company was 4,200 cases 

 of 1-pound tails. No fall fish were packed. The Black Diamond 

 Cannery packed 1,819 cases of spring and 2,583 cases of fall fish. 

 The Klamath Packing Company put up 3,500 cases. The steady 

 decrease in the annual output of the canneries on the Sacramento 

 River is due to the fact that a considerable portion of the catch is mild- 

 cured. In 1901 the Carquinez Packing Compan}^ utilized in this man- 

 ner 252,000 pounds of salmon; in 1902, 350,000 pounds, and in 1903 

 539,000 pounds, representing a total value to the fishermen of $45,640 

 for the three j^ears. Had this amount of fish been packed, it would 

 have been equal to 16,779 cases, %% pounds of raw fish being reckoned 

 to a case. The quantity of salmon mild-cured by the Black Diamond 

 Canning Company was 1,272,600 pounds in 1901, 1,036,800 pounds in 

 1902, and 1,092,200 pounds in 1903, the first value for the three years 

 combined being approximately $148,000. Of these fish 768,800 pounds 

 were caught in Monterey Bay and shipped to San Francisco, where 

 they were cured and placed in cold storage. 



The salmon taken in Monterey Bay are all caught by trolling, none 

 being taken in gill nets or other forms of apparatus. It is stated by 

 fishermen that on July 8, 1903, 1,500 fi;sh were caught in this manner, 

 averaging' in weight 23 pounds. 



Besides the mild-cured salmon prepared b}^ the two canneries above 

 mentioned, there were 1,733,933 pounds handled b}^ small cold-storage 

 plants, making a total output of 3,365,133 pounds. 



F. C. 1904 10 



