SALMON AND SALMON ElVERS OF ALASKA. 
203 
are prepared for the cannery by cutting off the heads and fins, and removing the vis 
I cera. The different steps in this process are performed by different groups of men, 
one set cutting off the heads, another removingthetins, while still another scrapes out 
the viscera. After this the hsh are washed and finally thrown into hand carts, to be 
i hauled into the cannery, where they pass through various processes, almost all of 
which are carried on by machinery. The Red Salmon is first cut into lengths suitable 
for the size of the can. These pieces are carried along and fed into cans, inequalities 
in the filling being supplied by hand work. The cans are then topped in the topping 
' machine, from which they pass to the soldering machine, and then are subjected to 
the processes of venting, cooking, steaming, testing, cooling, japanning and labeling. 
The number of canneries in Alaska was greatly increased in 1889. Prior to 1888 
the islands of Kadiak and Afognak contained only one or two estal)lishmeuts. The 
Karluk Packing Company at Karluk was the largest. In 1889 the number of can - 
neries at Karluk was increased to five, and three additional firms came to that place 
to seine fish for canneries located at other places. The yield in 1889 was larger than in 
1888, so that no decrease in thenumber of salmon has been observed as yet; of course 
the catch has been divided among a large number of companies and the individual 
take has fallen off in some cases. As an illustration of the injurious effects of over sein- 
ing at Karluk it may be stated that previous to 1889 seining was carried on almost 
exclusively in Karluk River and there was no fishing doneou theocean beach except at 
very low tides, when there was not enough water to seine in the river. In 1888 a 
seine of 100 fathoms set in Karluk River took 17,000 fish at one haul. In 1889 the 
rivalry to obtain fish was so great that seining was done principally in salt water, as 
near the river mouth as possible, and the length of the seines was increased in most 
cases to 250 fathoms. 
PRODUCTS OF THE SALMON FISHERY. 
■ The productive streams of the Territory are generally small and have their sources 
in large lakes. The great rivers of the Territory from the Bristol Bay region northward 
do not furnish the yield which we might reasonably expect from their superior size, 
but these rivers are in the nature of undeveloped territory, with the exception of the 
Kushagak. 
Nearly one-half of the entire yield of salmon in Alaska is now taken near the 
mouth of a small river, the Karluk, which at low water is only a few yards wide and 
has a length of less than 20 miles. 
According to the Commercial Herald and Market Review, of San Francisco, the 
Alaska salmon pack of 1889 amounted to 629,260 cases in cans and 6,930J barrels in 
salt. Two thousand cases of 48 jiounds each is considered a great day’s work for a 
first-class cannery, and is seldom exceeded, but on the 5th of August, 1889, the Karluk 
Packing Oompa(ny canned 2,412 cases by extraordinary efforts. 
The value of the output for 1889 was nearly $3,000,000. The market returns given 
below will show what share the different companies had in this yield. 
