Loading fish from traps into scows, ca.1903. Most early fishing in the area was done with fish traps. Traps were positioned over wooden pilings and placed on salmon migration routes. Salmon were then funneled through wire netting into underwater pens. One fish trap could hold approximately 30 tons of fish. The salmon were sent through a gate in the trap where fishermen scooped them out by the thousands, then they were transported to the canneries for processing and packing. By 1901 Whatcom County canneries operated floating craft consisting of 24 pile drivers, 14 steamboats, and 250 salmon scows in addition to 250 other types of boats.
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