Salmon Canneries For countless generations people in Southeast Alaska have depended on the abundance of fish and other ocean resources for their livelihood. Salmon were and continue to be the backbone of the Tlingit, Haida and Tsimshian Indian cultures, creating a rich lifestyle unattainable by most indigenous hunter-fisher-gatherer groups. Europeans arriving in the 1700s also made extensive use of Alaska's salmon for subsistence and export. After the sale of Alaska in 1867, individuals continued salting salmon for long-term preservation, but in 1878 a new method of packing fish arrived in Alaska. That year fish packing companies built canneries at Klawock and Sitka, marking the beginning of an industry that rapidly eclipsed Alaskan mining, logging and fur farming ventures in the twentieth century. Today, the seafood industry is Alaska's largest private industry employer. In 1998 the commercial salmon catch alone was estimated at about 713 million pounds with a value of almost $262 million. Back to Salmon Canneries | History and Archeology | Home