The daily morning Astorian. [volume] (Astoria, Oregon) 1883-1899, 1896-03-08
PROSPECTS FOR
THE SEASON
Not Believed That This Years Paci
VIII Ije So Heavy
aS Last.
SALMON PACKERS ARE ACTIVE
May NsN Boats kill Be On the River This
Sphhg The Washington iiateheries
Doiag Well. as Also One on
the CiartamAs.

the ClartamAs.
/ perity and one IN n measure due TO ex.
,ransoun innusnoer. Astoria IL certainly
that one with the seat and heRdauAr.
teru Of N. salmon packing industry in
and Immediately contiguous TO, OREGON
only seaport. with the output OF canned
| ard fresh salmon greater here than al
any other place In the entire world, the
state OF Oregon has no hatchery for the
propagation OF the Efrat Chinook. the
catching. preparing and packing OF which
constitutes onc OF the chicfest among
tho wealth producing and retaining bust.
nessVs Of the state, The state Of wash.
inEton has two hAtchcries. and from
these institution. fOsttrvd and support d
by state funds. Astoria derives the VI
cariouH benent spoken OF above-or. 10
speak more correctly. will DO 70 In future
yrara
These haichsrits are situated on the
Chinook and kAlamh rivers. and last year
Looo.cc young hsh were turned loose,
which viii not return for over four years
or these. the greater number have found
theif way into the waters OF the Column
hsAs NNRN w ANf hN AiNHf VIII
from the salt water on their way to the
head water spawning grounds. only 10
be caught captive In the nets Of Astoria
nshermen, The eRnncrymen OF this dis
triet have a propaEAtlnK hatchery on the
CiaekamaH, from which there were turned
loose IN 1876 s,oo9,col young salmon. who
have ere this fraternEled with their
brethren from Washington and become
one family, The reason for this neglect
upon the part Of Oregon IL not apparent.
bat II IL true there would be little other
than natural propagation were II not
for Washington and the local eannery-
men
A representative OF the Asiorian started
out yesterday to md out what was be-
ms done In the way OF preparation for
the spring run. and has been led to the
above remarks because OF the various
expressions OF cannerymcn regarding the
prospects oi the seasons catch.
With one or two exceptions. the pack.
rrs do not anticipate as heavy a pro-
duoIlon this year by from 100000 TO is5.ooo
cases a. In 1876 The reasons advanced
for this are iwo-fold In iSg the propa-
cation OF small salmon was prolific. and
the young nsh In large numbers were
loosrd IN this river and found an exit into
the ocean Last year all these returned
Added 90 this, strike among the fisher
men allowed an immense number OF nsh
TO escape up river. as far eastward as
iis1 miles into Idaho and northward into
Washington. where they spawned. The
two together produced an unusually
large run and proportlonately increased
pack.
one prominent canneryman gave as an
additional reason for believing the pack
OF this year will not be so heavy as that
OF last. the heavy rainfall together with
heavy SHOWS In the mountains, causing
high water and consequent loss OF sue
cess among the seinerS, on the other
hand. another one stated that he Anticl-
patcd but a comparatively small decrease
as compared with last sraIon. as the
nsh In large numbers are coming in un-
usually early and he does not look for
any serious freahetF, However. al
though n Is all more or less guess work
and lottery, the most conservative esti-
mate places the coming seasons pack at
from GoUl to HAOC0 cases
Although there is now conSid erable ac-
tivity among the packers and the Indus
tries allied 20 the salmon industry. Il Is
largely, in fact almost entirely. the re-
suit OF conditions that have been accumu-
lRting for several years. Many new
boats arN building, that will, In the
main. take the place OF those that have
been In service for such length OF time
as 20 make them OF no further avail for
the purposes OF fishing. In some In
stances, new boats OF slightly Increased
length are being constructed TO replace
old ones, still capable OF much service
that have been sold or traded, These
however, are few as compared with the
- rha lVsV -
win ind about 30 new boats on the
river or this number. the Astoria
Packing Comany viii furnish eleven. and
thirty-two altogether In addition TO their
fleet Of last year They ara also build
Ing quite an extensive addition to their
plant which Will be used as a labelling
room. One or two scows are also be-
ins built by outside parties.
There Will be no addition TO the traps,
because there can be none. owing to the
regulating statute OF Washington enact
ed In 1879. the traps being practically all
on the Washington side OF the river.
Under this statute the traps are licensed,
and provision Is made that they shall
only be set at graduated distances apart.
With the exception OF small territory
bordering Sand island all available space
is occupied, The unoccupled territory
Will Contlnue 10 De vacant Tor all time 10 3
come, unless some person. moro foolhardy |
than his fellows. desires TO precipitate 4
an emente among the fishermen by block
Ing the channel with more traps. Some |
one tried II not long ago, but stern 4
demand by the fishermen, accentuated by
force OF numbers, caused him to leave
the piling and quit work.
Altogether, the activities OF the present
are not materially different from those
Of other seasons. when preparations were
not making TO meet the demands incl .
dent to large yield, The usual efforts
Of preparations are being made and no
more All indications are for prosperity .
along general lines and the packers will I
merely endeavor TO ketp up with the .
procession, The ordinary number Of
will be employed the ordinary
boats VIII be In service, and the ordinary
amount OF money viii he dlsbursed.