THE SALMON AND SALMON FISHERIES OF ALASKA. 
131 
The difference in the average number of fish to the ease for the two years is due 
to waste. Tlie number of fish received is the cannery count, and in the case of red- 
fish, in 1897, a large number was rejected, and probably the same was the case with 
the humpbacks in 1896. When the pack of a species is small, the number consumed 
by the cannery-hands and salted, though counted as i>art of the catch, makes a large 
difference in the number to the case. 
ORCA. 
Tlie Pacific Steam Whaling Company in 1889 built a cannery on the southern 
side of the same mud slough on which the Pacific Packing Company located at Odiak, 
and nearly opposite the latter company’s establishment. In the spring of 1895 it 
was moved to a more salubrious site on the mainland, now known as Orca, east-south- 
east from the northern point of Hawkins Island, and about 4 miles north of its former 
location. This cannery has been operated every year except 1892, when it entered 
the pool of the Alaska Packing Association and was closed. It did not join the 
Alaska Packers’ Association in 1893. It has a capacity of about 1,500 cases a day. 
In 1896, 60 white fishermen were employed, and 25 whites and 65 Chinese in the can- 
nery. The Chinese contract was 42 cents per case, and in addition the tester received 
$40 a month and the boss $50 a month. Thirty sets of gill nets were used, 350 fathoms 
to the set, valued at $1 per fathom; mesh, 9J-inch for king salmon, 6^-inch for cohoes, 
and 6J-inch for redfish. Three seines, each 150 fathoms long, valued at $1 per fathom, 
were also used. 
The company, in 1897, employed 86 white fishermen and 17 whites (including 
a doctor), 6 natives, and 81 Chinese in the cannery. The fishermen used 43 sets of 
gill nets, 450 fathoms per set, 9J-inch mesh for king salmon, 6^-inch for cohoes, and 
6^-inch for redfish, all valued at $1 per fiithom. 
Three steamers were employed in 1897, the Wolcott, 199 tons net, crew 9, value 
$25,000; and the Wildcat and Tidinhet, both stern-wheel, 50 tons each, crew 5 each, 
and valued at $10,000 each. The ship America, 1,909 net tons, with a crew of fisher- 
men, was chartered. Two lighters valued at $250 each, 43 Columbia Biver boats at 
$200 each, and 3 seine boats at $100 each were also used. The equii)meut statistics 
were about the same in 1896 as for 1897, but only 30 Columbia Biver boats were used 
in 1896 instead of 43, and the steamer Thlinket was used by the Peninsula Trading 
and Fishing Company, and the Wolcott had not been purchased. 
The following table gives the statistics of the pack of the Pacific Steam Whaling 
Company at Orca for 1896 and 1897 : 
1896. 
1897. 
Species. 
1 
No. of 
fish. 
Dates. 
No. of 
cases 
packed. 
No. of 
fish per 
case. 
No. of 
fish. 
Dates. 
No. of 
cases 
packed. 
No. of 
fish per 
case. 
liedfish 
222, 157 
May 15 to July 31 . . . 
23. 445 
9.5 
201, 371 
May 13 to .July 31 
21, 197 
9.5 
Cohoes 
29, 909 
Aug. 13 to Sept. 14. . 
4, 021 
7.5 
25, 605 
Aug. 14 to Sept. 12 
3, 414 
7.5 
Humpbacks . . 
91, C60 
July 9 to 20 
4, 855 
18.7 
62, 860 
July 9 to Aug. 5 
3,415 
18.7 
A few king salmon were taken each year, but these were j)acked with the redfish. 
In 1896, 285 cases of redfish were packed in May, 13,785 in June, and the remainder 
in July. In 1897, 3,600 cases of redfish were packed in May, 14,486 cases in June, 
and the remainder in July. The cohoes are packed ui) to the closing of the cannery, 
and run much later, though not in paying quantities. 
