SALMON, AMERICA’S MOST VALUABLE FISH 
209 
remain within the body of the female, 
and are therefore wasted; from lo to 20 
per cent of the total number of eggs 
escape fertilization; a very large propor¬ 
tion (60 to 80 per cent) of the eggs are 
destroyed by predaceous fishes and other 
agencies; and, while the newly hatched 
young are in the helpless non-swimming 
stage, burdened by the heavy yolk-sac, 
they are such easy victims and such 
dainty morsels to the myriads of fishes 
that infest the spawning grounds, that 
an additional loss of 10 to 15 per cent 
occurs, so that of the original crop of 
eggs, only i to 2 per cent reach the age 
to which the fish culturist carries the 
young salmon. 
Under the present effective methods 
of artificial hatching, the total losses up 
to the time when the young are set free 
in the rivers, amply able to care for 
themselves, although still liable to con¬ 
siderable mortality before reaching the 
ocean, are not more than 20 per cent, are 
frequently only 10 per cent, and should 
not exceed 15 per cent under average 
conditions. 
Therefore, as against an absolute loss 
of 98 or 99 per cent in nature, the fish 
culturist is to be credited with a saving 
of 85 per cent. 
The natural mortality among young 
salmon in the rivers decreases rapidly as 
the fish become stronger, more active, 
and more alert. The most important ad¬ 
vance that salmon culture can make will 
therefore be in retaining the young at 
the hatcheries for a longer period before 
turning them loose in open waters to 
shift for themselves. There is no par¬ 
ticular difficulty in rearing salmon in 
captivity; the difficulty lies in providing 
at a given hatchery the necessary arti¬ 
ficial pond area in which to hold and 
feed perhaps 100 million rapidly growing 
fish. 
EXTENT OF THE SALMON INDUSTRY 
The salmon industry on the Pacific 
coast owes its origin, rapid development, 
and present extent to the establishment 
of canneries. During the 60 years that 
have elapsed since salmon canning be¬ 
gan, more than 175 million cases (each 
holding 48 one-pound cans or the equiva¬ 
lent) have been packed. The fresh 
weight of the salmon entering into this 
output has been over ten billion pounds. 
Recent years have witnessed marked 
changes in the relative amounts of salmon 
canned, salted, and sold fresh or refrig¬ 
erated, but much the largest proportion 
of the catch is still canned, and this will 
necessarily be the case for years to come> 
Salmon fishing is conducted through¬ 
out the range of the salmons, but the 
industry is most extensive in or near the 
mouths of certain streams, chief of 
which are the vSacramento, Columbia, 
Fraser, Skeena, Karluk, and Nushagak. 
Most of the fishing in Alaska is in bays, 
straits, and sands adjacent to small 
streams. 
Alaska’s enormous salmon 
RESOURCES 
In one year the aggregate catch of salmon 
in the Pacific States, British Columbia, 
and Alaska was upward of four hundred 
million pounds, which, as sold in a canned, 
salted, smoked, frozen, or fresh condi¬ 
tion, had a market value of about $27,- 
750,000. The canned product alone, 
consisting of more than five million 
cases of 48 one-pound cans, was worth 
$25,500,000. Thirty-five thousand people 
were engaged in the different branches 
of the industry, and the invested capital 
was fully $30,000,000. 
Many years have elapsed since Alaska 
ceased to be “Seward’s Folly,” because 
Alaska for a long time has annually more 
than repaid her purchase price in salmon 
alone. The salmons have in fact been 
Alaska’s most valuable contribution to 
the world’s needs, exceeding in abun¬ 
dance and importance those of any other 
region. 
The salmon industry may be said to 
have began in 1878, when the first can¬ 
nery was operated. The exploitation of 
the different sections has progressed 
rapidly, and in 1917 the catch was the 
largest ever made, amounting to about 
seventy million fish, weighing about three 
hundred and sixty million pounds. 
While all of the five species occur in 
Alaska, they differ markedly in distribu¬ 
tion and relative abundance. The Red 
salmon is most numerous in central and 
western Alaska, where three-fourths of 
the catch is obtained. On the other hand, 
nine-tenths of the output of Humpbacks 
and a large proportion of the other species 
come from southeast Alaska. The pre¬ 
ponderance of the Red and Humpback 
