River Falls journal. [volume] (River Falls, Pierce County, Wis.) 1872-2019, 1899-12-14
CANNING SALMON IN ALASKA.
There Has Been a Large Development
of Our Fishing interests There
The CandIeash.

The value OF the fisheries of the Unit
ed States has become far greater than
that of any other nation, and no feature
of our fisheries has had a more rapid
growth than salmon canning on the Pa
ciic coast. Salmon canning is by far
the largest branch of the Pacific coast
fisheries, and the market value of the
canned salmon put up on the Paciflc
coast every year is about twice that OF
the entire annual product of the lake
fisheries. We have hardly realized yet
how much the waters of the Alaskan
coast are contributing TO our wealth.
In 20 years nearly 100000, 900 pounds Of
fresh salmon have been taken in Alaska,
and the value of the canned and salted
product has been nearly $33, DOT, 900.
Over a third of all the salmon canned
and packed on the Pacific coast now
comes from Alaska, and the industry IS
growing every year. 1t is spread along
the coast from the neighborhood of Sit
ka, in southeast Alaska, to Kadiak is
land, near the Alaskan peninsula, and
then further north into the waters OF
Behring sea, and that region now cor
tributes about a fifth of the entire
catch. Kadiak and Chignik contribute
about three-sevenths of it, southeast
ern Alaska a quarter and Cook Inlet,
Prince William sound and the Copper
river make up the balance. Along these
hundreds of miles of coasts there are 30
canneries and more than half of them
are owned by one packing association.
Capt. Glenn, of the army, who has
just been describing his Alaskan ex-
plorations of last year in print, tells OF
the little cannery at 0rca, not far from
the mouth of the Copper river, which
was so little known until recently hat
il could not be accurately placed on the
maps. This cannery has a capacity of
$4,000 cases per annum and employs
from 1875 TO $50 men, of whom 60 are
Chinese. The Chinese do all the work
Of the cannery, making, packing and
labelling the cans and boxing them
for shipment. The remainder of the
force are fishermen and boatmen, and
most of the fish are caught at the mouth
of the Copper river. One day last year
a vessel of the company came into Orca
having on board $4,000 fish, represent
ing a single days catch at the mouti.
of the Copper river. This was by no
means an ordinary catch, but larger
catches had been made, and It was
enough to keep the cannery running
continuously for three days. Here, the
captain says, he ate from a can that
had just been packed, some OF the fans
Gus king salmon, which is indeed the
king salmon, not only on account of ITS
size and beauty, but also from its del
icate flavor" =
In this region, too, is the famous can
dlefish, which in the summer months
puts in an appearance in immense
numbers. Capt. Glenn says their
| schools are so thick that with every
outgoing tide they are found cast up
on the beach, unable to get back into
the water. 1t is easy to gather up a
bucketful of them in five minutes, Sc
Letting only those that are alive. The
squaws catch great quantities by SIM
ply dipping a basket into the water.
They are much like the ordinary smell
in texture and flavor, though much oil
Ter and two or three times as large. II
is said the fish is called candlefish be-
cause when it is dried it will light and
burn like an ordinary candle.
In Lieut.. Learnard's report, also just
printed, he says that along the coast in
Prince William sound, and also in Cook
inlet, there are plenty of fish, the prin'
cipal varieties being cod, halibut, fioun.
ders, candlefish and salmon. Thousands
of cases of salmon are packed and
- $50 ILL ~
salmon are simply thrown away be.
cause they are not of the choicest va.
%rieties. By this wasteful policy several
other species are being rapidly de-
stroyed. Every fresh water stream
contains plenty of salmon after they
start to rum, as the fish endeavor to get
to the head of the stream before spawn
ing.-N. Y. Sun.