76 The Commercial Products of the Sea. 



one, and the average take by the 13 existing preserving 

 establishments was 1 5,000 fish per night for 26 nights. It 

 was estimated that during the season 1,250,000 salmon 

 were taken, weighing on an average 16 lbs. each, of which 

 950,000 were canned fresh, and the remainder salted and 

 barrelled. The following figures give an approximate 

 return, for it is difficult to obtain precise statistics : — 



No. of fi&h Weight. Value, 



tinned. lbs. 



1872 ... 170,000 2,700,000 ... ;^86,400 



1873 ••• 360,000 ... 5,760,000 ... 168,000 



1874 ... 950,000 ... 14,400,000 ... 400,000 



In the last-named year 250,000 salmon, weighing 4,000,000 

 lbs., were salted. Owing to the enormous increase of pro- 

 duction, the market value of both canned and salted salmon 

 has been much lowered. The average price was not over 

 6s. per dozen i lb. cans. 



In 1876, during the fishing season, 18 establishments on 

 the Lower Columbia river put up 428,730 cases of salmon. 

 Of these over 400,000 cases contained four dozen i lb. tins, 

 and the remainder consisted of 2 lb. and 2 J lb. tins. Over 

 100,000 cases were shipped direct from Astoria to England 

 in the first three months. In 1877 the total catch was 

 378,325 cases. The total exports from San Francisco by 

 sea to Europe and the colonies were 170,887 cases in 1876, 

 and 160,982 cases in 1877. 



Attempts have been carried on for many years past, 

 which have been attended with partial success, to acclima- 

 tize the salmon in the Australian rivers, and considerable 

 quantities of ova have also been sent out to Tasmania and 

 New Zealand. 



