El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1916-02-05

! As far as its fisheries are concerned,
western Alaska is next in Importance
to southeastern Alaska 1t has some
thing like $4,000 900 invested in the
industry. and the men employed are
more than seven thOusa nd. The region
las twenty-thTec canneries for salmon,
! and he number o. fish caught last sea-
| son was alnCst twenty-three mi lions.
or nearly hSlf the total number of SAL
mon caught in Alaska that year. The
seal fisheries are in the Pribilof Is
lands in the heart of this district
In the Whale District.
As to arctic Alaska, its fish product
is so small that it is hardly worth
noting The commercial business is
devoted mostly to whales. and the
] whaling is small in comparison with
that of southeastern Alaska, from
where we get whalebOnes and the other
products Of that fish.
During my travels in southeastern
! Alaska / have met a Mr. Peterson. who
! owns fish cannery on Kotzebue sound,
! north Of the Seward peninsula and on
the Arctic ocean. He tells me that a
great many silver salmon run up the
I kobul1 river every season. They begin
I running about July 20, and shortly
! after that you can see miles of salmon
/ racks filled with the drying fish, which
] the Esl1imOs are laying up for the win
I ter. This mans cannery has capac-
( ity of only $1,000 cases a season. but
salmon trout for several years. The
salmon OF that region is light in color,
( but to offset ii they have the Dolly
! Warden trout, which often reaches a
| length of three feet and a weight of
ten pounds
Whaling Is Big Industry.
As to the whaling industry of the rest
of the territory, it is carried on in
southeastern Alaska and in western
Alaska Some whaling is done by shore
stations, and some by ships that go out
frOmle San Francisco and Seattle every
season. The steamer KarIuk. which
went north with the Stefanson arctic
expedition belonged to the San Fran
cisco whaling fleet
Another vessel OF that fleet was the
Gay Head. which was wrecked in
Alaskan waters in the spring of 1914.
1t had already caught some whales and
a great deal Of sperm oil was lost. The
steamer Herman. another San Francisco
ship. caught six bowhead whales in
1914 and took altogether about 10000
pounds of whalebone. and the brigan
tine Jennette. which went as far north
as Point Barrow. on the Arctic ocean.
caught three whales, which yielded
something like $500 pounds Of bone.
The Polar Bear of Seattle caught ten
bOwheads last season, and the steamer
Belvedere. from the same port took
five.
Use Cannon to shoot Whales.
The shore whaling stations are
operated by two companies. There is
one here at Port Armstrong, on Bara-
noff Island. in southeastern Alaska, |
owned by the United States Whaling
Company. and another at Akutan, near
Unimak pass in western Alaska, owned 7
by the Pacific Sea Products company
Both OF these companies have steam
ers which they send out to shoot |
whales Each vessel has a three-inch !
muzzle-loading gun on its bow. The /
prOiectile is attached to 2 heavy line !
that is fastened to a steam which on |
the deck of the vessel When the gun |
is shot the prOjectiie is supposed to /
go into the whale. 1t explodes and /
leaves a baTbed harpoon in its flesh. /
The barb opens as the whale is struck, !
and it is thus caught by the wire rope
and can be played by means of
steam engine. the line being loosened !
and frightened as necessary. After the
animal is dead il is drawn near to the |
vessel and then pumped IN with air
to prevent its sinking. and in this way
is floated and towed TO the shore sta
ton.
Upon the arrival OF the station the
whale is hauled out on platform and
the blubber is chopped with axes and
then stripped off by means OF steam !
winch. The whale is then cut up and
cooked to get out the oil, and the resi-
due is used for fertilizer.
sperm Whales Worth $4,000 Each.
The best oil comes from the sperm |
whale, which has a cavity in its head
full OF fat A single sperm whale is
worth as much as $4,000. It will some
times produce many barrels Of valu-
able oil, the best Of which sells for $40
per barrel The cheaper grades sell
for much less, the poorest bringing
only about S12 per barrel. Some or
the whale meat is saved for cattle
food It sells for $40 per ton The fer
tlizers bring from $40 TO $27 a ton.
It has been suggested that the salmon
might can the whale meat,
and make whale-beef packing indus
try in this part Of the world. They
could do this during the parts Of the
year when the salmon are not run
ming. Whale beef is said to be health
full and palatable; the product would
be large, as a single whale sometimes
weighs as much as 10000 pounds.
salmon Most Important Fish.
The salmon is by far the most i'm
oortant of the fish of Alaska. There
are four kinds, all of which are deli ,
,ious. The largest and most valuable /
IS the king salmon, which has an aver
age weight Of twenty-five pounds and ,
sometimes weighs as high as 100 /
pounds This is found in southeastern !
Alaska in all months of the year. and /
in Nav and June it runs up many of | ,
he rivers to spawn. The next in size
8 the sock-eye or red salmon, which
g ABOUT a NaFu lbIE anu mas al DIV GE- ]
lge weight of five pounds It is found
m over Alaska, and it runs chiefly ,
rom June until the middle of August ;
The silver or CohO salmon is not so
,aluable. on account Of the paleness or !
isht color of its flesh 1t weighs on
he average about six pounds and runs !
alter than the sock-eye
The humpback is the smallest of our
IaImon. 1t is caught by the millions
n southea stern Alaska, and many Of )
he canneries depend upon it. 1t weighs :
10 to eleven pounds. In addition to !
hese four species we have also the
log salmon. which is good for freezing '
aItiug and smoking, but poor for can
ling. This salmon is shipped largely
o Japan.
sg7, 100000 in Fishing Industry.
OF the SS7. 900, 600 invested in the fish (
ne industry Of Alaska about thirty {
our millions are devoted to the catch a
ny. canning and shipping Of salmon G
he number caught in a single year is i
o great that if the fish were equally c
fvided among the families of the a
-uited states there would be three for @
verv household and leave some to C
pare So many salmon were caught in h
'Iaskan waters last year that if they t
7ere loaded on freight cars at thirty e
ounds to the car the train required to c
AIRY them would fill three lines Of
rack reaching from New York to San Z
'ra ncisco Such a train would be ! 2
,ore than qOO0 miles long or a thou |