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Fishing

 The fishing and canning industries have played a major role in the economic development of Bellingham and surrounding communities. The location of sheltered bays, close to major transportation routes and salmon spawning rivers, provided local fishermen with an ideal base for operations. Early commercial fishing in Puget Sound was largely based on methods perfected over the centuries by Native Americans. In the early spring, fleets of canoes trolled for Chinook Salmon, and in the fall, they fished for Silvers. Pacific American Fisheries Collection: Center for Pacific NW Studies Western Washington UniversityEventually, the canoes were replaced by sailing trollers and by 1900, fishermen were using gas and diesel powered vessels. Fishing methods included traditional dip nets, spears, and reef nets, but the gill net took precedence after the 1850s. Gill nets were used in estuaries and upstream reaches of local rivers. The size of the mesh was adjusted to accommodate the species of salmon. The salmon were tangled in the mesh of the net, pulled aboard, clubbed and stored in the hold of the boat. Purse seining, another popular method, required larger boats and a mechanism that closed enormous nets around schools of swimming fish.

Most Whatcom County fishers used fish traps, a method that mimics Native American reef net fishing. The traps were built to hover on wooden piling above salmon migration routes. Wire netting funneled the salmon into underwater pens. The fish were transported through a gate to a spiller where thousands of fish could be dipped out and dumped into the hold of a waiting ship. This method contributed significantly to the depletion of salmon in Puget Sound by the early 20th Century. Howard Buswell Collection: Center for Pacific NW Studies Western Washington University

Several major canneries have existed in and around Bellingham. The first local cannery was established at Semiahmoo in 1882. The Drysdale cannery was established on the same site in 1891. Later canneries include the Pacific American Fisheries Cannery in South Bellingham and the Carlisle Packing Company on Lummi Island. The canning industry quickly mechanized, but cleaning fish remained a tedious job done by hand. Chinese immigrants constituted the primary labor force for this activity. In 1903, a machine known as the "Iron Chink" was invented to mechanize fish cleaning. It was believed that the machine would do the work of 50 laborers and eliminate what was perceived as the undesirable Chinese element.

By the early twentieth century salmon runs were greatly depleted in Puget Sound. Fish traps were outlawed and the local canneries began processing salmon from Alaskan waters. Pacific American Fisheries, once the largest salmon canning operation in the world, closed its doors in 1966. 

For additional primary sources on the fishing industry see the finding aids to the following archival collections at the Center for Pacific Northwest Studies: