Salmon Canneries

About the Book

Once, the north coast of British Columbia was dotted with cannery villages. Now only a few plants remain. In Gladys Young Blyth’s new history of the nothern salmon canning industry, many remarkable photographs- of the canneries, the fish boats, the workers- provide glimpses of by gone days in an industry that has been of vital significance to the development of the province. For each of the thirty-eight canneries on the Nass and Skeena Rivers the author gives a short history, the location, and a physical description of the plant. Her chronology of early- day to present methods of fishing and processing provides the reader with a clear understanding of how the industry functioned. Who were the cannery workers? How did they live in those isolated locations on the B.C. north coast? These and other questions are answered in this fascinating pictorial history.

About the Author

Gladys Young Blyth, curator of the North Pacific Cannery Village Museum at Port Edward, B.C. until 1986, has spent many years researching and writing about the fishing industry. Born in 1920 in Squamish, she grew up in Bella Coola. She met her husband Alex Blyth while working at Namu Cannery in 1940. The Blyths had eight children. Despite a busy family life, Gladys worked on the staff of the Prince Rupert Daily News and helped found and publish three Port Edward volunteer newspapers. She has written a number of articles and stories for magazines and has supplied photographs for many publications. She wrote and published A History of Port Edward. In 1989, Gladys Young Blyth was honoured as British Columbia’s Senior Citizen of the Year of her key role in founding the North Pacific Cannery National Historical Site. With the publication of Salmon Canneries­—British Columbia North Coast she has further contributed to the preservation of our coastal heritage.