126 
BULLETIN OF THE UNITED STATES FISH COMMISSION. 
operated by that firm. In tbe spring of 1889 it was burned, but was rebuilt at once 
and a pack was made that year. In 1892 the cannery was a member of the Alaska 
Packing Association, operated that year, and in 1893 it joined the Alaska Packers’ 
Association. It was afterwards enlarged, utilizing some of the machinery of the 
Bartlett Bay cannery. It is the only cannery that has made a pack in this vicinity 
since 1893. It has a capacity of 1,600 cases a day. 
In 1896 14 whites and 87 Chinese were employed in the cannery. The company 
employed 60 white fishermen, and received fish from about 200 natives. The cannery 
fishermen used 12 gill nets, each 200 fathoms long by 16 feet deep, 84-iuch mesh, 
valued at 65 cents per fathom, for king salmon, and 46 gill nets, each 300 fathoms 
long by 10 feet deep, 6^-inch mesh, valued at 65 cents per fathom, for redfish. The 
steamer Elsie, of 38 tons, with a crew of 5, and valued at $16,000, and the steamer 
Lillian, of 20 tons, with a crew of 4, valued at $8,800, were employed. The chartered 
ship Invincible, of 1,394 net tons, with a crew of fishermen, was used for transporting. 
Four lighters valued at $50 each, 48 Columbia river boats valued at $200 each, and 
several skiffs were also used. 
The following table gives the statistics for 1896 and 1897, so far as obtainable: 
Species. 
1896. 
1897. 
Cases 
packed. 
Average 
number 
per case. 
Dates. 
No. of 
fish. 
Cases 
packed. 
Average 
number 
per case. 
Dates. 
Eedfisli 
Cohoes 
Kiug salmon 
44, 044 
612 
2, 800 
10.3 
7.5 
3.1 
June 25 to Sept. 12 
Aug. 28 to Sept. 12 
May 25 to June 25 
321, 517 
11, 123 
14, 796 
31, 241 
1,488 
4, 727 
10.3 
7.5 
3.1 
June 25 to Sept. 13 
Aug. 29 to Sept. 13 
May 28 to June 28 
In 1897 the same equipment was used. At the beginning of the season the same 
number of white fishermen was employed, and the fish were received from about 300 
natives. After the gold excitement reached Pyramid Harbor many wldte fishermen 
left for the Klondike and many Indians left to freight across the passes. 
The Chinese contract price was 40 cents per case. The fish obtained for this 
cannery, as well as for those others that had previously operated here, all came from 
the Taku, Chilkat, and Chilkoot rivers. 
TAKU RIVER. 
The Taku Eiver is one of the largest of southeast Alaska, and empties into the 
inlet of the same name about 12 miles southeast of Juneau. King salmon, redfish, 
and cohoes run in the river, but on account of the wide expanse of the mouth, and the 
ice in the inlet, which is discharged constantly from the adjacent glacier, fishing 
can not be carried on profitably. The river is said to be navigable for canoes for a 
distance of 50 miles. It has a strong current and many tributai'ies, some of which 
are said to be lake outlets. As soon as the ice breaks up in the river (usually about 
May 25) the fishing for king salmon commences, and all that are packed at Pyramid 
Harbor are taken in the Taku, except a few stragglers that appear around the Chilkat 
very early in the season, which can hardly be called a run. The cannery usually 
expects to pack about 3,500 cases. These fish are all taken with drifting gill nets by 
white fishing crews. About 15 per cent of the king salmon are white-meated. The 
largest ever taken weighed 78 pounds. ISo other species are fished for in the Taku. 
