Wild Pacific salmon, revival

Synopsis

150 years ago, the first pioneers reached the Pacific Northwest, discovering an inexhaustible ocean of fish, shellfish and mollusks. They got along with the great chief of the Squamish, Chief Seattle, and concluded a treaty to share the riches with them. The indigenous peoples of Puget Sound and the white pioneers worked together, much to the misfortune of the salmon. From the 1920’s to the 1970’s, the fishing fleet increased 100-fold, with canneries on all the docks. Millions of cans of salmon were shipped throughout the United States, by the train-load. Salmon were fished using simple nets, rotating seine nets, hoop nets, hook and line, and even on some rivers, a fish wheel – a water wheel with baskets to scoop up the salmon. It was carnage. But times have changed…