I did a quick search this afternoon and found this interesting article. https://wildsalmoncenter.org/wp-content/...puget-sound.pdf


While taking note of who the study was by, it still has some real interesting data points. One of the most interesting is this statement From 1905 to at least 1927, a fish cannery was in operation on the Queets River
(Cobb 1930). Steelhead were listed as canned in less than half the years from 1912 to
1927 when there was a record of how many cases of each species were packed. As
indicated previously, steelhead brought higher prices sold fresh and it was the preferred
market. Because of that, most steelhead probably were not canned but sold for the fresh
market. Therefore, they may not have always shown up in the commercial catch record.
Nevertheless, in 1923, 1,500 cases of steelhead were packed at the Queets cannery (Cobb
Historic Steelhead Abundance 104
1930) with each case containing 48 one pound cans (72,000 lbs). Myers (2005) indicated
that although 50% wastage is figured for chinook during canning, because steelhead are
smaller and thinner wastage may have been ~70%. This would mean that 240,000
pounds of steelhead had been processed by the cannery on the Queets River (the nearby
Quinault and Hoh Rivers had their own canneries). The average steelhead in the Queets
River tribal catch in 1934 weighed 9.8 pounds (hand written notes in the data sheets from
Taylor 1979). The steelhead catch processed at the cannery in 1923 would have been
24,490 steelhead. If harvest was 50% of the run size, the return would have been 48,980
steelhead; if harvest was 30% of the run size, the lower end of the harvest range used by
Myers (2005), the Queets River return would have been 81,633 wild winter steelhead >>>>



The numbers of salmon mentioned in the Queets system is mind boggling. An interesting read for sure if someone has the time.