Museum Memories

At the turn of the century, the Alaska Packers Association and Alaska Syndicate were powerful entities based out of San Francisco that owned nearly all the canneries in Alaska and canned 85% of the statewide salmon pack. These operations dominated by non-residents; fished Alaska waters with short-sighted aggressiveness. They consolidated to keep prices paid to fisherman low and lease prices high; leased the boats, owned the fish traps and canneries and controlled the shipping of salmon to the west coast markets. In short the Packers and Syndicate monopolized the fisheries.Photo Courtesy of the Cordova Historical Society — preserving Cordova’s past for the future.

At the turn of the century, the Alaska Packers Association and Alaska Syndicate were powerful entities based out of San Francisco that owned nearly all the canneries in Alaska and canned 85% of the statewide salmon pack. These operations dominated by non-residents; fished Alaska waters with short-sighted aggressiveness. They consolidated to keep prices paid to fisherman low and lease prices high; leased the boats, owned the fish traps and canneries and controlled the shipping of salmon to the west coast markets. In short the Packers and Syndicate monopolized the fisheries.

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