Category: Alaska’s Historic Canneries

Fri, July 05, 2013

August Buschmann Speaks

Note: What follows is an excerpt of the testimony of August Buschmann, pioneering cannery operator and fish trap operator, taken from the Special Subcommittee on Alaskan Problems, House Committee on Merchant Marines and Fisheries, on the Elimination of Salmon Traps in the Waters of Alaska, November, 1949. Not only does Buschmann describe the genesis of many canneries in Southeast Alaska, his testimony clearly shows the speed at which canneries proliferated around the bays and inlets of Alaska. Readers interested in... (Read More)

Tue, June 18, 2013

MUG-UP: The Role of the Mess Hall in Cannery Life

By: Katherine Ringsmuth We all know that salmon have fueled Alaska’s commercial fishing industry for over 100 years. So, if salmon fed Alaska’s numerous salmon canneries, what fed Alaska’s numerous cannery workers? Believe it or not, the answer is not salmon! Although salmon was eaten on occasion, it was not the primary source of nutrition fueling the industry’s workers. Over the century, cannery workers’ diets have consisted of rice, powered milk, coffee, canned goods, doughnuts, salad bars, and prime rib.... (Read More)

Thu, April 25, 2013

Old Uyak, Kodiak Island

By: Wallace Fields (Note: This article is reprinted from the Kodiak Maritime Museum's Spring 2013 newsletter.) When Alaska was purchased by the United States in 1867, the salmon canning industry was just beginning. Salmon canneries were operating on the Sacramento and Columbia Rivers, and it wasn't long before canneries were being built further north in Puget Sound, Canada, and along the coast of Alaska. Kodiak Island's first cannery was built in 1882 on the Karluk Spit. By the end of... (Read More)

Tue, April 23, 2013

Alaska’s Historic Canneries

By Anjuli GranthamDuring the early twentieth century, the most visible signs of human settlement in most of coastal Alaska were dozens of isolated canneries. These industrial processing facilities were mini-towns in their own right, with their own stores, metal shops, and carpenters, in addition to port facilities and housing. Alaskan canneries were the most ethnically diverse enclaves in the territory, with Asians, Natives, Latinos, and Europeans rubbing shoulders as they sauntered down the docks. After all, it was the riches... (Read More)

Mon, April 15, 2013

Common Waters

By: Ross CoenWhen it came to Alaska fisheries, Anthony Dimond and W. C. Arnold didn’t see eye-to-eye very often. As the territory’s congressional delegate from 1933 to 1945, Dimond advocated local fisheries management, a hiring preference for Alaska residents, and the abolition of fish traps. As lawyer and lobbyist for the Seattle-based packing industry, Arnold opposed all of those things. On at least one point, however, the two men were in full agreement. In July 1937 at least ten and... (Read More)