The Minneapolis journal., 1903-11-07
ALASKA SEVEN TIMES PAID FOR II. SALMON

dant in Bristol bay, north of the Alas
kan peninsula. Wherever there are
streams running from inland snow
fed lakes into the sea, ON the islands
as well as on the main land. the sal
mon cOngregate at the breeding time
and sometimes literally choke the
mouths of the fresh water courses on
their way to the spawning grounds.
1t was on the morning of Aug. 10
that the McCulloch dropped anchor
off the mouth Of Karluk river on the
north shore of Kadiak island, in a
fog SO dense that it was impossible
to see ships length. The fog whis-
tie was answered by the ringing of
bells and the shrill whistles of small
steam craft, and as the fog lifted a
few minutes later it revealed the large
buildings of the Alaska Packing as
sociation at what has been hereto
fore the largest salmon packing sta
ton in Alaska.
It was part of the business OF the
senatorial committee in Alaska to IN.
vestigate the condition of this import
ant industry and Karluk was selected
as the best and most convenient place
at which to study the processes OF
preparing the salmon for market and
the provisions made for protecting the
fish from determinations
IT. HE seines had been set about the
mouth of Karluk river i'll the
early morning, and when we
went ashore after an early breakfast
we found the fishermen drawing in
| their nets. Where salmon fishing is
done on a large scale, as it is at kar-
LUX, most of the fish are taken in
seines. net nine or ten feet wide.
| and three or four thousand feet long,
is loaded on scow, towed by a steam
| tug The tug makes a circuit out
! from the shore inclosing large area,
paying out the seine as it goes and re-
turning to the shore, ten or fifteen
rods from the point from which 1T
started out. One end of the seine is
madc fast while the other is attached
to a steam windlass and drawn slowly
irto shore. AS it is brought in 1t is
attended by fishermen in boats to see
that it does not become ,entangled on
the rocks and broken. and when it
has been drawn in SO as to narrow
the enclosed area to a surface of two
on three hundred square feet, large
fishing boats are brought alongside
and the salmon are dipped up with
huge baskets into the boats. The
area is gradually reduced as the fish
are dipped out until practically all the
| fish are removed from the enclosure
by means Of the large baskets used as
dip nets.
When the fish can no longer be
taken expeditiously by means of the
dip nets or baskets, the net is drawn
upon shore and the remainder Of the
fish are picked up on steel forks and
thrown into the boats. The draught
which was loaded that morning into
| the fishing boats was a good one for
| larly satisfactory. The number taken
out of that net was variously esti-
mated from $4,000 to,.17,00O. And
what a Wriggling, squirming,. slippery
mass as they fill 8 square built boats
feet wide and Is feet long to a depth
of feet! The.fish in this draught are
of average size, Is to "a inches long.
Another method of fishing is by the
use of gill nets. Two men are as
signed to a boat. The.net vary from
200 to 1000 feet in length. They are
carefully slowed in the stern and are
across the tide. When the last of
the netting is paid out, the ends are
attached to buoys and the net left to
drift until the time arrives for hauling
in the fish. This is done when the
ebb tide sets in, althopwhen the fish
are plentiful the nets ARE sometimes
filled much sooner. Z. 1t is understood
of course, that gill-netting is. a process
of catching the fish by the gills as
they attempt to pass thru the net
This process can only be successfully
4 pract1ced where the water is clouded
In clear water the fish can see the net
and avoid 1t. Where the net is used
as seine as many as $4,000 have
been taken out at one draught.
The loaded boats are taken to the
cannery, where the fish are emptied
upon large floors or bins convenient tt
the machinery employed in canning
The first process, of, course, is the
Z cleaning. and this is nearly all done BY
machinery. AS the fish are brought
on carriers from the bin they are de.
posted on tables where men callet
, butchers" rapidly and skilfully cu
off the heads, fins and tails. A gooc
, butcher can handle 250 to 800 sal
, mon an hour. They: pass from thi:
table on belt carriers to a machine
which treats the fish a good deal as E
, corn shelter treats the corncob, ex
cept that it not only. removes the
scales, but cuts the fish open and re
) moves the entrails. A strong stream O.
water is thrown upon. the fish in thi!
5 process SO as to wash it out thoroly
but to make sure of a clean job, anC
that no fish unfit for market arr
packed, the fish go next to the hand
$ OF cleaners, who finish them up read,
$ for the cutting machine
i IRON the cleaners they are carrie,
: to machines, where the fish is iait
crosswise on an ascending belt, o
a series of parallel belts, travelling sid
by side. Between these belts knive
revolve rapidly, and as the fish ar