SALMON AND SALMON FISHERIES OF SWIFTSURE BANK 
701 
It has been the desire of the authors not only to make the above material avail- 
able, but to present it in such a way as to provide a thorough understanding of the 
fisheries of the region and to establish a background which will form the basis for 
future conservation efforts in the region. 
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS 
The authors wish to express their appreciation for the splendid cooperation in 
the furnishing of information and statistics by the following companies: Anglo- 
British Columbia Packing Co.; The British Columbia Packers; The Canadian Fish- 
ing Co.; Francis Millerd; Greatwest Packing Co.; J. H. Todd & Sons; Johnston 
Fishing & Packing Co.; Kingcome Packers; Nelson Fisheries; Quathiaski Canning 
Co.; Queen Charlotte Fisheries; Sooke Harbour Fishing & Packing Co.; Alaska 
Packers Association; American Packing Co.; Anacortes Canning Co.; Astoria & 
Puget Sound Canning Co.; Beach Packing Co.; Bellingham Canning Co.; Booth 
Fisheries Corporation; Carlisle Packing Co. (S. P. Kelly) ; Everett Fish Co.; Far- 
west Fisheries; Fidalgo Island Packing Co.; Fishermen’s Packing Corporation; 
Friday Harbor Canning Co.; W. A. Lowman; New England Fish Co.; Northwestern 
Fisheries Co.; Pacific American Fisheries; Puget Fisheries; San Juan Fishing & 
Packing Co.; Sebastian-Stuart Fish Co.; Icy Straits Packing Co.; Western Fisheries; 
Western Sea Foods Co. For valuable information and statistics of early fishing on 
the Fraser River the authors are indebted to Mr. Henry Doyle, of Vancouver. 
Capt. T. E. Eggers, of Seattle, supplied information of the early fishing on Puget 
Sound. 
The officials of the Fisheries Departments of the Dominion of Canada, the 
Province of British Columbia, and the State of Washington have extended numerous 
courtesies, in addition to giving the authors access to their files and records. 
GILL NET FISHERY 
By George A. Rounsefell 
FRASER RIVER 
EARLY COMMERCIAL DEVELOPMENT 
Gill nets were the first to be developed of the four main types of gear used com- 
mercially in this region. Since 1873 they have captured 46 percent of all of the 
sockeyes taken, as well as large quantities of the other species. The gill net fishery 
is so inextricably bound up with the Fraser River that its story is largely that of the 
Fraser itself. 
The salting of salmon was begun soon after 1800 by the Northwest Company, 
later the Hudson Bay Company (Rathbun 1899), which exercised a monopoly of the 
fishing (Howay 1914), and by 1835 was shipping 3 to 4 thousand barrels of salt 
salmon each year to the Hawaiian Islands. These early trading companies depended 
very largely upon salmon for their food supply. Thus, in 1836, the supplies gathered 
for the upper Fraser River trading posts included 67,510 salmon, 11,941 smaller 
fishes, 781 sturgeon, and 346 trout (Morice 1904). In 1858 the Hudson Bay Com- 
pany’s license was revoked and its claim of monopoly fell. 
