148 
BULLETIN OP^ THE UNITED STATES FISH COMMISSION. 
lakes kad tliey not been disturbed. After a salmon lias once run tbe gauntlet of 
seines outside tlie river it should be peruiitted to perform its chief object in life. 
Until the law is strictly enforced and fishing in streams can not be openly done with 
impunity, those who have shown an iucliuation to protect the salmon fishery will have 
little encouragement. It is true that the number of salmon taken out of Karluk 
Eiver is small as compared to the catch ou the outside grounds; but even a limited 
amount of river fishing is sufficient to produce results injurious to the fishery. 
Karluk Eiver, like all streams in Alaska where the operation is feasible, has in 
past years suffered by barricades and zapors. In late years it is said there have been 
no barricades in the stream. For some time previous to 1889 a fence or barricade had 
been placed across tbe mouth of the river near the upper end of the estuary above the 
seining-grouud; but it was removed in that year, and there has since been no obstruc- 
tion except in 1891, when for a short time a fence was put in to aid in taking salmon 
for the hatchery which had been built. 
CANXEJilES OF THE KAltLUK DISTRICT. 
That a prolific locality like the Karluk should be a bone of contention is only 
natural, and scarcely a year has passed that some struggle for supremacy between 
rival canneries has not disturbed the normal conditions. In 1896 the following 
canneries were open and made iiacks: Alaska Improvement Company under that 
company, and the Karluk Packing Company and the Hume- Aleutian under the 
Alaska Packers’ Association. In 1897 the Alaska Packers’ Association purchased the 
cannery of the Alaska Improvement Company and operated all the canneries. The 
transfer of property took place after the fishing arrangement had been made. By 
this purchase the association came into possession of all the canneries in the vicinity 
of Karluk, and purchased what they hoped was peace. But the sjiring of 1897 saw 
two canneries built at Uyak, about 18 miles from Karluk, expecting to make their 
pack from the Karluk beach. The contention arising from the fisheries of these 
canneries is now in the courts of San Francisco. 
Karluk Packing Company . — In 1882 Messrs. Smith & Hirsch, who had been engaged 
in salting ou Karluk Spit, built the first cannery on Kadiak Island. After operating 
it until 1881 it was organized under the title of the Karluk Packing Company, and 
has packed under that name every year to date. It joined the pool of the Alaska 
Packing Association in 1892, and became a member of the Alaska Packers’ Associa- 
tion in 1893. It has a capacity of 2,600 cases per day. It has packed more fish than 
any other cannery in Alaska. Since 1882 the total is 814,642 cases, with an average 
of 52,790 cases per year. In 1888 it packed 101,304 cases. This cannery employed 
but few men at first — 10 Chinese to perform the mechanical work, and two gangs of 
fishermen, 5 or 6 men in each, mostly natives. Two drag seines, each 40 fathoms long 
and 3 fathoms deep, were employed in capturing fish. 
Kodiak Packing Company . — The cannery of this company was built in 1888 on the 
eastern end of the spit, and was operated in 1888, 1889, 1890, 1891, and 1893. It was 
a member of the pool of the Alaska Packing Association in 1892 and closed that year. 
In 1893 it joined the Alaska Packers’ Association and was operated, but has been 
closed ever since that date and is held as a reserve. In 1891, nnder the agreement of 
the Karluk Eiver Fisheries, this cannery packed the quota of fish allowed the Arctic 
Packing Company at Uyak Bay. It has a capacity of 1,800 cases a day. 
