Semi-weekly herald., 1913-01-02


Alaska, Bristol bay, Puget sound and
British Columbia, sometimes as large
proportion as one-third of the fish
will have white flesh. Sometimes .
fish will be found with ono side OF
its body red and the other white. or
with mottled flesh. and 50 far no sat
is5actory explanation has beoa given
Tor these peculiarities.
There is great deal of mystery
about the salmon and the closest study
so far has failed to yield full ipforma-
ton. 1t is known that the fish is born
in fresh water and goes out INTO the
ocean for the active part of its life;
but how far it goes, what its food con-
sists of, and how long it remains away
no one can say. Sometimes there have
been great schools of them found nun
dreds of miles from land but they
were always headed towards tie land.
| They travel in such numbers that
the smaller streams are sometimes al
most choked with them.
They follow closely along .he shore
in search of suitable spawning place
The male fish scoops little furrow
with his nose, in which the female de-
posits her eggs. 1t is generally be-
lieved that the salmon spawns only
once, after which it soon dies. When
/ returning from the sea, salmon will
/ h.. af
stream as they can get In Alaska,
when the schools are coming in, it is
not unusual to see the fine specimens
batter themselves almost to pieces in
their attempts to jump falls which are
too high for them. For this attempt
they will retire down the stream for
some distance, make a flying rush and
then leap upward out of the water to
an incredible height.
In the southern range, the salmon
strikes at Monterey bay in sufficient
numbers to justify commercial fishing
by the middle of April, when it is
found feeding upon schools of herring
and sardines, continuing until August.
There are two runs about Sacramento,
the first beginning in April and con-
tinuing throughout May and June and
the second lasting from August to Oc-
tober. These two sometimes merge
into each other and there is some
times third run in December. In
Columbia river there are three runs,
the first entering during Januay, Feb
ruary and March. In southeast Alas
ka they are found at all times of the
year. In Cook inlet the run occurs
during May and June and is COM
| posed entirely of red-meated fish. In
the Yukon rivers the fish may be seen
in the upper courses as late as July,
the lateness being due to the immense
distance the fish have to cover.
The sockeye or blue back salmon,
which forms the greatest part of the
canned salmon of the world, is smaller
the maximum weight being about
twelve pounds and the length three
feet, while the average weight is not
more than five pounds In Alaska the
sockeye is generally known as the red
salmon because it has considerable
crimson in its coloring. 1t extends as
far south as the Sacramento river but
is most frequent in the Frasier river,
and all of the coastal streams of Brit
ish Columbia, while Alaska furnishes
the greatest American supply.
The Columbia, which is the largest
river of the Pacific slope and forms
the dividing line between Washing
ton and Oregon, has produced more
salmon than any other river in the
world. Many years before the advent
Of the white man the Indians visited
its banks and caught and preserved
their annual supply of winter fish
food. In 1888 small trading sloop
under command of Captain Lamont
came into the Columbia and dropped
anchor near what is now known as St,
Helens. While waiting for return
cargo, the captain salted down a
number of barrels of Chinook salmon,
using empty Jamaica rum kegs for the
purpose. This is the first record of
the export of this fish. The first fish
ing operation by white men was begun
soon after the settlement of what is
now Seattle, in 1862. The fish was
sold either fresh or salted. The first
canning factory on Puget sound was
erected in 1877. The first salmon can
ming factory in the United States was
erected by George Hume, on the Sac
romento river, in 1864. At first no
one would accept the new product and
Mr., Hume used to fill basket with
cans OF salmon and start and dis
tribute it gratuitously among his
neighbors who in this way became ac-
quainted with its good qualities.
According to the detailed reports
of the Pacific salmon industry $685.
1888 is invested in its apparatus
and buildings. More than half of
TINS sum is invested in Alaska. Near
ly 10000 men, women and children
are employed. About two-thirds of
these are white and the balance are
Chinese, Japanese and Indians. The