456 
BULLETIN OE THE UNITED STATES PISH COMMISSION. 
the Eastern market in order to increase the demand, and establish a trade for salt-cured salmon, elforts 
have been pushed in that direction, and the encouragement met with has induced many who had not 
the means or desire to enter into the expensive business of canning salmon to establish salmon salteries 
in various parts of Alaska. The amount of capital required to start on a small scale in this business 
is not large. One or two boats fitted with drag seines, a cabin on shore for living quarters, a rough 
shed or fish house in which to dress and salt the fish and for performing such general work as may bo 
required in a limited business of this kind will suffice for all i>nrposes. Many of the well-established 
salteries were first started in this manner and have since grown to be of considerable importance. 
Two or three men with only a small amonnt of capital, if they are fortunate in selecting a good locality 
where the run of salmon can be relied upon — for the success of the entire business depends upon the 
location — can, if they display the required amount of energy, build up a paying business. They of 
course must appreciate the fact that for at least seven months out of the year they must content 
themselves with being cut off and isolated from civilization ; but the class of men who seek a livelihood 
in this remote part of the world care little for social life, or, if so, the prosi^ect which looms up before 
them for making money is fully equivalent to any hardships of this nature they may undergo. Several 
small vessels manned by men of small means have, during the past few years, made annual voyages 
to Alaska, spent the fishing season there, and in the fall brought back the summer’s catch. At first 
they temporarily located themselves by way of an experiment where it was thought to be a good 
position for carrying on the business. If the experiment proved a success, the next year greater 
preparations were made, and in this way from a small beginning quite a number of valuable plants 
have been established. The greater part of the salmon j)nt up at the salteries are caught in drag 
seines, although a few are taken in gill nets and traps, but at most places where salteries are situated 
the drag seine has been found to l)e the most profitable apparatus of capture, owing to the great 
number of smooth beaches where the fish can be easily taken. 
All barrels used for putting up salmon in southeastern Alaska are manufactured at the salteries. 
Suitable wood being abundant, they can be made at a reasonable price. During the winter months 
enough barrels are made to meet the demand for the coming season. A cooper is an indispensable 
person about a salmon saltery, for, besides performing his regular duties as a cooper, he is often called 
upon to assist in various mechanical jobs, and is jiaid by the piece, or so much per barrel — 85 cents 
for making a whole barrel and 65 cents for a half barrel. At this price he can earn good wages, for 
he is under no expense for board. It being the object of every man owning a saltery to enlarge on the 
plant and increase his business as rapidly as possible, several weeks of each year, before and after the 
fishing season, are spent in building wharves, if needed, erecting buildings, and making such improve- 
ments as are required to keep a place of this kind in good order. Many salmon salters have gained a 
fii-iner foothold in Alaska than the mere business of salting salmon would give them. They have 
branched out into general trade and have stores well stocked with goods of all kinds. In this way 
they have drawn around them the neighboring tribes of Indians, who are ever ready to buy and trade 
for such commodities as they require. 
In Sweden the choicest pickled salmon are the ‘‘ice-house salted salmon.” These 
are killed as soon as caught, split and eviscerated, and the head and larger portion of 
the backbone removed. Each fish is then rubbed with a mixture of salt and sugar 
and carefully placed, skin upward, except the bottom layer, in barrels and covered 
with brine. These barrels are stored in ice-houses or cool cellars and kep)t at a low 
temperature. 
The following method of brine-salting salmon was practiced in Scotland a hundred 
years ago : * 
The Scotch salmon is not too fat, a circumst.mce which contributes much to its preservation. 
As soon as possible after the^^ return from fishing, they split the salmon in the same manner as is 
done with fiat cod, except that cod is cut along the belly, and salmon along the back from the head to 
where the fin of the tail begins, and often leave the large bone sticking to the flesh of one of the sides. 
Having cut the fish in this manner, taken ont the gills, emptied it, and, sometimes, taken off a part of 
the largo bone, they wash it in sea water, if they have it convenient to them, or, if not, in fresh water, 
* A treatise on fishing for herring, cod, and salmon and of enring or preserving them, published 
by order of the Dublin Society, Dublin, 1800. pp. 140-141. 
