Salmon Canneries

In the early years, fishermen used beach seines or drag seines to catch salmon, hauling the nets by hand without the aid of hydraulic power. Fishermen either rowed their boats to the fishing grounds or found a tow from a steam-powered cannery tender. Once on the fishing grounds crews of about 10 men rowed and steered large, flat-bottomed skiffs with long oars. Fishermen often barricaded streams and netted salmon schooling below the barriers. Fish packing companies supplied the boats and gear and in 1900 paid fishermen about $45 a month. Purse seine nets, introduced about 1900, were set from large rowboats until the advent of gasoline-powered boats.