SALMON AND SALMON FISHERIES OF SWIFTSURE BANK 
705 
Nationality of the Fishermen 
Because of differences in fishing ability it lias been important to a study of the 
gill netting to note the changes in the nationalities of the fishermen. According to 
Henry Doyle the fishermen were practically all Indians as late as 1882. The first 
Japanese fishermen were engaged by English and Company at their Steveston cannery 
in 1888. Only a few were employed at first, however, and up to 1892 they were not 
given independent licenses. Doyle estimated that they formed at least one-third of 
the fishermen by 1895. 
The statement by Doyle that in 1882 most of the fishermen, if not all of them, 
were Indians, is borne out by Hittell (1882) who says that the Delta Packing Com- 
pany in 1881 had 36 boats and employed 200 Chinese, 150 Indians, and 30 white men. 
The Chinese, of course, 
were used as cannery labor, 
the white men were prob- 
ably nearly all clerks and 
mechanics, and the 150 
Indians would be about the 
number required to furnish 
2 crews of fishermen (4 
men) to each of the 36 
boats. 
From 1900 to date the 
license registers for indi- 
vidual fishermen have been 
available at the New West- 
minster office of the Do- 
minion Fisheries Depart- 
ment. Since 1915 these 
registers have given the 
nationality of each fisher- 
man. For previous years we have divided them into three groups: Japanese, Indian, 
and white, being guided both by the name and residence of each fisherman. 
Figtjke 5.— Fraser River gill nets, showing for each year the total number of gill-net 
licenses issued, the number issued to Japanese fishermen, and the total units of 
fishing effort. For an explanation of units of fishing effort see text. 
Number of Licenses 
The number of licenses issued to each of these three groups of fishermen, plus 
company licenses — which we have not attempted to segregate before 1900 — and 
special licenses issued since 1908 permitting bona fide residents along the banks of the 
Fraser River between the New Westminster and Mission bridges to fish only in that 
area are given in table 2. The figures for the Fraser River, except the totals, for years 
previous to 1900 were empirically determined from available information. 
Units of Fishing Effort 
Having made an estimate of the number of each type of fishermen, it has been 
necessary, in order to obtain the best measure of the intensity of the gill-net fishery 
