The Seattle post-intelligencer. [volume] (Seattle, Wash. Terr. [Wash.]) 1888-1914, 1892-01-04
BRITISH COLUMBIA FISHERIES.
An Infant Industry That Already Yields
S5OOO,0OO Year.

$4,000. 900 Year.
Julian Ralph in Harper's Magazine
Already the value of the fish caught in
the British Columbia waters is estimated
at 5000, 600 year. and yet the industry
is rather at its birth than in It's infancy.
All the waters in and near the province
fairly swarm with fish. The rivers TEEN
with them, the straits and fords and CULTS
abound with them, the ocean beyond is
freighted with an incalculable weight of
living food, which must soon be dlstribu-
ted among the homes of the civilized
world. The principal varieties of fish are
the salmon, cod, shad, whitehsh, bass,
founder, skate, sole. halibut, sturgeon,
oolachan, herring, trout, haddock, smelts,
anchoyies, doghsh, perch, sardines, oys-
tiers, crayfish, shrimps, crabs and mussels.
OF other denizens OF the water. the whale,
sea-otter and seal prove rich prey for those
who search for them.
The main salmon rivers are the Fraser.
Skeena and Nasse rivers, but the fish also
swarm in the inlets into which smaller
streams empty The Nimkish, on Van
couver island, is also a salmon stream.
Setting aside the stories of water so thick
with salmon that man might walk upon
their backs, as well as that tale of the
stage-coach which was upset by salmon
banking themselves against it when
it was crossing fording-place,
there still exist absolutely trust
worthy accounts of swarms which at their
height caused the largest rivers to seem
alive with these fish. In such cases the
ripple of their back fms frets the entire
surface of the stream. I have seen photo
hat ha fish in "a
numbers, side by side, like logs in a raft,
and l have the word of a responsible man
for the statement that he has gotten all
the salmon needed for small camp, day
after day, by walking to the edge of
river and jerking the fish out with COM
mon poker.
There are about sixteen canneries
on the Fraser, six on the Skeena,
three on the Nasse and three scat
tered in other waters - Rivers inlet
and Alert bay. The total canning in
1850 was 414, 294 cases, each of forty-eight
one-pound tins. The fish are sold to Eu-
rope. Australia and Eastern Canada. The
American market takes the Columbia
river salmon. A round million of dollars
Is invested in the vessels, nets, travis,
canneries, oil factories, and freezing and
sailing stations used in this industry in
British Columbia, and about 5, 500 men are
employed. There is no difficulty in
catching the fish," says local historian,
''for in some streams they are so crowded
that they can readily be picked out of the
water by hand" However, gill-nets are
found to be preferable, and the fish
are caught in these, which are stretched
across the streams, and handled by
men in tiat-bottomed boats. The fish are
loaded into scows and transported to the
canneries, usually frame structures built
upon piles close TO the shores of the rivers.
In the canneries the tins are made, and,
as rule, saw-mills near by produce the
wood for the manufacture of the packing
cases. The fish are cleaned, rid of their
heads and tails, and then chopped up and
loaded into the tins by Cinnamon and In
dian women. The tins are then boiled,
away. The industry is rapidly extending,
and fresh salmon are now being shipped,
frozen, to the markets of Eastern America
and England. My figures for 1889 lob
tanned from the Victoria Times) are in all
likelihood under the mark for the season
OF 1890. The coast is made ragged by in
lets, and into nearly every one water
course empties. All the large streams are
the haven of salmon in the spawning sea-
son, and In time the principal ones will be
the bases OF canning operations.
The Dominion government has founded
salmon hatchery on the Fraser, above
New Westminster 1t is under the SUPER
vision OF Thomas Mowat, inspector of fish,
cries. ana millions of small fry are now
annually turned into the great river.
Whether the unexampled run of 1889 was
in any part due TO this process cannot be
said, but certainly the salmon are not
diminishing in numbers. 1t was feared
that the refuse from the canneries would
injure the runs" Of live fish, but it is
now believed that there is a profit 70 be
derived from treating the refuse for oil
and guano, so that it Is more likely to be
saved than thrown back into the streams
IN the near future.
The oolachan, or candle-fish. is a valua-
bic product OF these waters, chiefly of the
Fraser and Nasse rivers. They are said TO
be delicious when fresh, smoked or saited,
and | have it on the authority of the little
pamphlet british Columbia" handed me
by government official that their oil is
considered superior 10 cod-liver oil or any
other fish oil known" 1t is said that this
oil is whitish and of the consistency of
thin lard. It is used as food by the ma
the Coast Indians and the tribes Of
the interior. There is so much Of
it in a candle-tsh of ordinary size
that when one of them is dried it
will burn like candle. 1t is the custom
of the natives on the Coast 10 catch the
fish IN immense numbers in purse-nets
They then boil them in iron-bottomed
bins, straining the product in willow bas-
kets and running the oil into cedar boxes
holding fifteen gallons each. The Nasse
river candle fish are the best. They begin
running in March, and continue TO come
by the million for period of several
weeks.
Goldfish are supposed to be very
plentiful, and 10 frequent extensive
banks at sea, but these shoals have
not been explored or chartered by the
government. and private enterprise will
not attempt the work. Similar banks off
the Alaska coast are already the resorts of
California fishermen. who drive prosper
Gus trade in sailing large catches there.
The skill, or black cod, formerly known as
the ''coalhsh." Is splendid deep water
product. These cod weigh from eight TO
twenty pounds and used 10 be caught by
the Indians with hook and line. Already
white men are driving the Indians out bv
superior methods. Travis of 800 hooks
are used, and the fish are found TO be
plentiful esneciaIly off the west coast of