Omaha daily bee., 1883-04-11
COLUMBIA SALMON.
The Great Prosperity Of the
PiSheIi'S.
Extent ofthe Business-Whole
sale Destruction Of Fish.
The Necessity for Preventive
Laws
rrc ponderc, OF the Chronicle.

W Ht'h "
PORTLAND, Oregon, March 49,
Salmon fishing will bfgln about April
2O.h. 1t seldom begns before that
time, because the run Of fish 10 very
light, and there being more floating
snsgs and driftwood In the river than
at any other time, the nets are easily
destroyed. Tne season lasts four
months. A boat, net and signal light
cost from &400 to 5000 There are
canning firms on the C)lum-
bia river, nearly all Of them being at
Astoria. There is q general disposi-
ton to center the salmon canning
business at that ancient little town, rs
1t seems to be the cheapest place OF
operations; for II the fisheries were
further up the Columbia, tug boats
would have to be employed TO bring
back the fishing boats. Yet the
lower bay at the mouth Of the
Columbia Is very stormy during the
fishing season, during which there Is
often loss Of life and q great deal Of
danger and hardship. This is one
reason the Columbia salmon cost ore
than the Sacramento salmon. Fisher
men who have their own boats and
nets are paid 60 cents q salmon, weigh.
Ing eight pounds. Those whose boats
are furnished by the company are paid
45 cents o salmon. One OF the firms
has raised the price to 30 cents q fish,
but the others refuse to see the eleva-
tion.
PACKING THE FISH.
Salmon are packed In one-pound
cans and forty. eight cam make a case,
the average price Of q case being 81 or
$5 20. The product Of the thirty.six
oanneries on the Columbia river last
year WA $50, 600 cases, worth 81, 1884,
0CO. 1t IL estimated that the capital
invested In these thirty six oanneries
Is about e2, 600, 900. When |, Is known
that fishing boats cost $500 or 5000
each, and that some Of the fishing
firms have 100 boats, and that q total
of about 7 1000 men are employed, the
cost can readily be understood. About
one.third Of the salmon product Ia
shipped to San Francisco for reship-
ment to Australia, the eastern states
and Islands In the Pacific ocean,. The
remainder is shipped direct from Az.
toria to Liverpool or London. One
vessel recently left with 20, 600 oases,
worth over $3.50, 900, the most valua
BILE cargo OF salmon ever shipped from
the Pacific coast.
MRRCILEss DESTRUCTION.
The continued run OF salmon In the
Columbia IL remarkable, considering
the great destruction Of fish by traps,
and the merciless iron wheels that i'm
pale them like the Spanish gdrrote
There 10 q sentiment 10 favor Of abol
ishing this Wholesale destruction Of
fi,b, and II Is very likely that . lsx
will be passed prohibiting II. The Law
against fishing between Saturday nigh
and Monday morning IL not rIgidlI
enforced. This law was passed In or
der to allow the fish to ascend TO thei
spawning grounds. But In this whole
sale and untimely destruction the poo
pie are destroying the very soui 90 o
their revenue. It 10 proposed BY tn
cannery proprietors TO establish
hatchery. Some "publio spirited
people think the State should estAb
lish . hatcher for the benefit Of tn,
oannery establishments. Yet the can
neries have, year after year, paoke,
from 400. 600 to 535. 600 cases, dc
pending solely OF the ish tina
escape to their natural spawn
ing grounds. It can 90
silly be estimated what futur
awaits this growing industry when
hatchery has been established able T.
turn out millions OF fish annually, AM
their Wholesale destruction stopped
Perhaps then 1000, 600 cases might b
packed. which would be . revenue 0
$40 0O0, 600, about one.fourth o
which would be net. Daring the las
fifteen years the revenu derived from
fishing In the Columbia river va
about e25, 900 COO. There we're $50,
OOO cases Of salmon packed on the Pa
chic coast last year, the value Of whic'
was a. 800. 0CO This would lsAv
800, 900 cases for cannsries outside G
the Columbia river. When salmo
fshing began here fifteen years ~
the price was about three times whs
It IL now, or Sl5 . case. II the Who'll.
sale destruction Of hsh In not stoppe
and hAtcheries are not soon estat
iished, the supply will aoon be like th
last run Of shad and the price will az
vance. But there IL considerable "a
mon fishing in Alaska, three ~oanneri'
being In existence there, and recer
reports refer TO the establishment
another.
sCooPIHc WHEELS.
The "scoopipg' wheels, upon While
salmon are caught, resemble the old
fashioned undershot wheel. They a
built upon embapkmepts or projsctir
rocks, 90 that the wheel viii be In Il
water when the stream risss. {
sourss they are built In the bw vat,
season. The wheels have plank p.
dies. % that ths water running dow
/ stream sets tbs wheel In motion, n
the salmon coming up stream q
caught on the wheel and literal
broken. They fall Into . "chute
4 sometimes Ike . wood drive, and sli'
down into boxes. A wheel scoops I
5000 or 1000 salmon . night. The
Is no Law to prevent this wholesa
slaughter and destruction, bat there
Q loud cry for II.