ALASKA SALMON INVESTIGATIONS IN 1900. 
259 
TAKU INLET. 
Taku Packing Company . — A company under this title was organized in Astoria, 
Oreg. , by some of the stockholders of the Alaska Fishermen’s Packing Company, 
Nushagak, with a capital of $20,000, and in the spring of 1900 a cannery was built 
on Taku Inlet. The construction of the buildings was commenced March 28, and the 
plant was ready for operation on May 17. It is located on the western shore of Taku 
Inlet, 2i miles west by north from Jaw Point, on the northern side of a small bight 
(Sunny Cove), which receives the waters of a small stream. 
It is a small cannery, making a hand pack, and has a daily capacity of 250 cases, 
with expectations of making from 15,000 to 18,000 cases a year. The capacity of 
the cannery will be increased in 1901. It has 1 steam box, 1 retort, 1 solderer, and 
1 hand cutter. The cans, which were purchased and carried to Alaska, were made of 
95-pound tin plate. Transportation is by regular freight steamers, which call upon 
notification. The Chinese contract was 42 cents for tails and 11 cents for flats, with 
the usual conditions. The fishermen were transported each way, had full board, 
received $80 for the season, and 5 cents for redtish and 10 cents for king salmon per 
boat of two men. The native cannery-hands were paid $2 per day. 
This year the fishing was confined to Taku Inlet and most of the fish were 
obtained near the mouth of the river, described in my former report, page 126. It 
is expected, however, in the future to expand the fisheries and include neighboring 
streams. Fishing in the inlet is difficult on account of ice pouring from the glaciers, 
and, as there are no seining beaches, it is confined to gill nets. 
According to the cannery data king salmon begin to run in Taku Inlet May 8 
and continue to June 26. The Pyramid Harbor cannery, which has fished here for 
many years, gave the dates of the king salmon runs as May 25 to June 30. It is 
probable that, the time depends upon the movements of the ice, and the earlier date 
may be for the first arrivals whose numbers are insufficient for a large cannery. Of 
the early run 15 per cent are white-meated, and this proportion increases until the 
latter part of the run, when about 30 per cent are found in this condition. One king 
salmon was taken weighing 61 pounds. The first arrivals of the redtish were noted 
on June 20, but the} 1- did not come in sufficient numbers for canning until July 1; 
they then continued to August 12. 
Cohoes run from August 1 to October 1, and dog salmon are noticed scattering 
throughout the season, but are most abundant in August. Steel heads are quite 
abundant and were first noticed from July 15 to August 1. At the time of our visit, 
August 25 and 26, they formed about 10 per cent of the catch. Dolly Varden trout 
are numerous, and there are a few halibut, but no shad or sturgeon. 
The following are the statistics: 
Hands employed: Thirty white and 11 native fishermen, 7 white and 2 native 
cannery-hands, and 19 Chinese. 
Fishing gear: Fifteen redfish gill nets, each 150 fathoms long, 35 meshes deep, 
6^-inch mesh; and 22 king-salmon gill nets, 150 fathoms long, 22 meshes deep, 
91-i rich mesh, value 65 cents per fathom. 
Boats, lighters, etc. : 2 lighters, $225 each; 1 fish scow, $150; 15 gill-net boats, $60 
each; 2 dories, $25 each. Launch Faum , 5 tons, crew 2, valued at $1,000, owned. 
