The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1903-08-23
Seattle, Wash. Aug. %.

III HILE the land % the strange.
Wv silent north is giving up millions
in yellow treasure each year, its
waters continue to yield wealth far in
excess Of the gold that is wrested from
the reluctant earth. The red meat of
the North Pacific salmon is as precious
as the golden nuggets of the Klondike
because it constitutes one OF the pTin-
cipal items of the worlds food supply.
The take OF the last season represented
36,265,000 fish. and the pack reached the
colossal figure OF 1876 100000 pounds OF
food prepared for the table.
Around the salmon there is the all
pervading mystery Of the north. 1t Is
born in fresh water and comes back TO
its birthplace to die. Beyond that little
IS known of its habits. How far II
goes when It puts to sea. what II lives
upon. and how long it remains away
are questions that no man can answer.
Great schools Of them have been sight
cd in the ocean hundreds OF miles from
land. but when seen they were always
headed toward the shore and fresh wa
ter. They are supposed 20 subsist upon
vegetable matter. and their length OF
life is reckoned by various authorities
10 be all the way from four to eight
years.
When they are grown they make for
fresh wafer. travelling in such numbers
that often the smaller streams are lit
orally cboked with them. They follow
closely along the shore in the search for
suitable spawning grounds. The male
scoops out a little furrow in the sand
with his nose. in which the female de-
posts her eggs. after which they are
covered over and left TO hatch. 1t is
A. .4F
the spawning grounds for one-twenti-
eth Of the FISH 70 deposit their eggs.
and that there is great waste from me
crowding, the deposits Of the early ar
rivals being disturbed again and again
Icy the late corners. As soon as the
female deposits the eggs her usefulness
IS ended. and she soon dies.
The fish are caught at the mouths Of
the streams or as they ascend the sams.
The men in the employ Of the different
companies are separated into gangs and
distributed over the territory they are
TO cover. They operate from stations.
where there are small houses. in which
they eat and sleep during the fishing
season. Sometimes a company will have
as many as sixty men distributed
among twenty of these stations. at dis
tances reaching as far as fifty miles
from the Cannery. The same steamer
that gathers up the fish from the sta
tions delivers the food and supplies for
the men.
A gentleman familiar with the differ
ent methods Of catching the salmon
said: "In gill net fishing two men are
assigned to each boat. The nets COM
monty in use vary from 200 to $50 faith
Oms in length. These are carefully
stored in the stern. One man rows and
the other carefully pays out the net
which has buoy attached to the end.
The course is steered across the tide
and when the last of the netting is out
another buoy holds it in place. when
81 is left 10 drift with the tide until the
time arrives for hauling in the fish. Il
sometimes happens. when the run is
heavy, that the net will have to be
pulled I'm before il is half paved out
% The process of gill-netting is the most
simple Of all"
I'm seine fishing the nets are usually
much longer, generally 500 or 900 faith
oms i'm length. and often more. They
are laid in the same way, being paved
out over a roller I'm the stern Of the
boat, the rope having been first at
tached to a stout post on the beach
a wide circuit is then made. inclosing
as much water as the length of the
seine Will allow. When the last end
IS landed the whole gang of men. Of
ten twenty or more. labortously haul
in. and when there is a good catch it is
heavy work, indeed. At some fisheries
much hard work is avoided and the
process greatly facilitated by the Use Of
a steam launch i'm towing the seine and
n steam winch for the hauling. Dur
ing the latter case men in boats follow
along the cork line TO prevent the seine
from snagging at the bottom. 1t is re-