240 
BULLETIN OF THE BUREAU OF FISHERIES 
The river, notwithstanding its size and ramifications, is only a moderate producer 
of salmon, though its kings and reds are unsurpassed in quality anywhere in Alaska 
and always command a good price. These two factors, more than anything else, led 
early to a steady expliotation of the runs of kings and reds which threatened destruc- 
tion of this valuable fishery. 
Commercial fishing in Copper River began in 1889 with the establishment of 
two canneries on Wingham Island off the entrance to Controller Bay and two at 
Odiak, a bight on the north side of Orca Inlet nearest the southwest head of Eyak 
Lake. The plants on Wingham Island drew their salmon mainly from Copper and 
Martin Rivers, while those at Odiak obtained their supply almost entirely from Eyak 
Lake or the western part of the delta. In 1890, one cannery on Wingham Island was 
moved to Thin Point in western Alaska near the end of the peninsula; the other 
was moved to Kokinhenik Island directly in the mouth of Copper River in 1891 
and continued to operate there until 1897 when it was permanently closed and dis- 
mantled. One cannery at Odiak operated until 1905 and was then sold to the Copper 
River & Northwestern Railway Co. which used it for other purposes; the second 
plant was moved in 1895 to Orca, a point on Orca Inlet about 4 miles west of Odiak 
and was operated each season thereafter through 1918. The Orca cannery was closed 
in 1919 and had not been reopened as late as 1927, though for nine years, 1906 to 
1914, it had been the only cannery between Yakutat Bay and Cook Inlet and had 
undisputed possession of the entire field aside from the competition of a few salteries 
on Prince William Sound and a mild-curing station on Copper River just north of 
Abercrombie Canyon. Beginning in 1915 with the establishment of a cannery at 
Mile 55 on the Copper River & Northwestern Railway and one at Cordova, radical 
changes in the character of the fishery were inaugurated and there was then set in 
motion a new order of things which soon developed an intensive drain on the Copper 
River runs of king and red salmon. In five years the number of canneries grew from 
1 to 9, one of which, as already indicated, was located several miles up the river and 
made its entire catch in Miles Lake and Abercrombie Canyon. Set nets were used in 
the lake and dip nets in the canyon. In the delta district, where set-net and drift-net 
fishing had been followed for years, staked nets were added and used extensively 
over the mud flats. Traps were also tried on the flats, but the district proved to be 
unsuited for that form of appliance. 
The confusion of Copper River and Prince William Sound figures in the early 
catches has been fully discussed above in connection with the data for the eastern 
part of the sound. Table 10 gives the combined catches of the two districts for the 
years 1889 to 1903, inclusive. The catches of reds and kings are undoubtedly chiefly 
(and for several years exclusively) composed of Copper River fish. Probably most 
of the pinks were secured in the sound. The records of the catches of cohos are of 
doubtful value on account of the possibility of errors as to species and uncertainty 
as to the source of the catch. Although it has seemed best to keep the early figures 
separate from those collected by the bureau since 1904, it may be assumed with little 
chance for serious error that the data for kings and reds may be combined to give a 
complete statistical account of the catches of these two species. The salmon catches 
on the Copper River from 1904 to 1927 are given in Table 11 and may be taken as 
reliable and accurate within the limits reasonably applicable to such data. 
