Alaska Packers Association

An association of Alaska salmon canneries chartered in 1892 from 11 independent canneries, canneries, with headquarters in San Francisco.

In the 1960's central offices moved to the Blaine, Wash. area and the association was sold to Del Monte Corp. along with their parent company, California Packing Corp. The Alaska Packers Associations was still operational, as of 1982, as a subsidiary of Del Monte Corp. The APA operated an extensive fleet of ships, maintained files on various operations, collected publications and shipwreck data.

From the description of Alaska Packers Association records, 1891-1970. (Alaska State Library). WorldCat record id: 42927200

From the 1890s through the 1960s, the Alaska Packers Association (APA) comprised a dominant force in the fishing industry of the Pacific Northwest.

APA controlled and established fishing and cannery stations and hatcheries in the Bristol Bay area, Central and Southeast Alaska. Puget Sound area operations included canneries, warehouses and a boat repair yard located on Semiahmoo Spit, in Blaine, Washington. Throughout its history, APA was closely involved in many of the major developments and conflicts relating to fishing activities and rights, including use of land, labor and conservation techniques. From 1916, APA operated under the parent company California Packing Company, later known as the Del Monte Corporation. Company operations were supervised and directed from central offices in San Francisco, with regional headquarters based in Seattle until the early 1960s, and then at Semiahmoo until 1974. In 1981, APA transferred all its Semiahmoo property (including buildings, artifacts and records) to Whatcom County Park and Recreation Board.

From the description of Alaska Packers Association records, 1841-1989 1890-1974. (Western Washington University). WorldCat record id: 56366017

From the 1890s through the 1960s, the Alaska Packers Association (APA) comprised a dominant force in the fishing industry of the Pacific Northwest. With operations located in the Puget Sound and across Alaska, APA was closely involved in many of the major developments and conflicts relating to fishing activities and rights in the region during this period, including use of land, labor and conservation techniques.

APA's origins reflect early commercial concerns within the Alaska fishing industry. As production of canned salmon rose dramatically during the 1880s and 1890s, Alaska-based fishing and packing companies began to suffer increasingly from competition and lack of consumer demand. In 1892 therefore, the majority of fisheries-related operations in Alaska joined forces to form the Alaska Packing Association, aiming to regulate their operations and pursue more successful marketing strategies. In February 1893, twenty-five of the thirty-three Alaska companies formed the Alaska Packers Association, the records of which are contained within this collection.

By consolidating and expanding the holdings of predecessor companies including the Chignik Bay Packing Company and the Central Alaska Company, the APA soon comprised one of the largest operations in the fishing industry. Through the early 1930s, the Association was noted in particular for its "star fleet," of up to thirty large sailing ships, which transported men, supplies and goods between San Francisco and Alaska. APA controlled and established fishing and cannery stations and salteries at sites that included Nushagak, Kvichak, Ugashik, Naknek and Egegik in the Bristol Bay area. The association also maintained stations at Karluk, Alitak, Cook Inlet and Chignik in Central Alaska, and Fort Wrangell and Loring in southeastern Alaska. Puget Sound operations included a cannery at Point Roberts, Washington (acquired in 1894 and operational until the 1920s), and canneries, warehouses and a boat repair yard located on Semiahmoo Spit, in Blaine, Washington. APA operations were supervised and directed from central offices in San Francisco, with regional headquarters based in Seattle until the early 1960s and then at Semiahmoo until 1974. In 1961, APA opened regional offices in Kodiak and Anchorage in Alaska, to supervise production activities. The association was dependent upon labor from Native Alaskan, Chinese, Mexican, Filipino and African American workers, as well as men and women of European and Anglo-American descent. Although its operations focused primarily on the catch, processing and sale of salmon, APA also harvested marine life such as razor clams and king crab from Kodiak and Cordova from 1961.

APA experienced its largest period of growth and prosperity during the first two decades of the twentieth century. In 1905, APA introduced the successful Argo brand canned salmon to the consumer market. From 1916, following acquisition of the corporation's interests by San-Francisco-based California Packing Company (CALPAC), APA products were marketed and sold under the popular "Del Monte" and "Pioneer" labels.

The 1920s, however, heralded a period of growing economic uncertainty and political conflict for APA and other fishery operations in Alaska. The 1920s and 1930s witnessed the beginning of major federal efforts to regulate the activities of the commercial fishing industry, in attempts to minimize the depletion of marine stocks, and also to protect the interests and fishing rights of Native Alaskans. The White Act of 1924 comprised the first in a series of restrictive legislation, enabling the Secretary of Commerce to impose limits on the number of salmon caught and canned each year, as well as limiting fishing seasons, and determining the use and type of fishing gear. With the passage of Initiative 77 in 1935, the Washington State Legislature prohibited use of fixed gear (namely fish traps and set nets) in the Puget Sound. Use of floating fish traps in Alaska was finally outlawed in 1959, when the Territory acquired statehood. Such regulations comprised a source of growing conflict between Bureau of Fisheries officials, commercial fisheries and native and non-native local fishermen. Efforts by native Alaskans to define and protect their rights to fishing and ancestral grounds during this period resulted in prolonged legal conflicts. Claims by members of the Haida and Tlingit tribes, and villagers in Karluk on Kodiak Island, for example, were among those protested by APA and other packing companies. Perceived competition from Japanese and Russian fishing on the high seas comprised a further source of concern within the industry in the post-war period. US fishing operations including APA and also Bellingham-based Pacific American Fisheries formed inter-organizational lobbying groups such as the Bristol Bay Salmon Canners and the Association of Pacific Fisheries to defend their interests. Conflicts and legal battles regarding rights to fish and property in Alaskan territory - and the right of the government to regulate the commercial fisheries - continued to rage through the 1960s and beyond.

By the 1940s, all major fishing operations in Alaska were affected adversely by declining salmon runs, as well as disruption caused by the conscription of men and ships during World War II. Fluctuating salmon runs and high operating costs necessitated increasingly conservative management of cannery operations during the post-war period. Despite recovering sufficiently to gain slight profits during the 1950s, APA was unable to enjoy the same degree of prosperity and possibilities for commercial expansion it had found in the early twentieth century. The 1958 Del Monte Annual Report acknowledged the uncertain future of the Alaska salmon industry - salmon runs during the previous year had failed to meet pre-season estimates, and the APA salmon division had operated at a loss.

In the early 1960s, now under the corporate leadership of the Del Monte Corporation, APA moved its regional offices from Seattle to Semiahmoo, Washington. Over the next two decades, Del Monte began gradually to divest its interests and property in Alaska and the Alaska fishing industry. Several of APA's former stations and canneries in Alaska continued to operate under new ownership, sometimes on a season-to-season basis. APA ended its salmon canning operations at Blaine in 1964, although continued to manufacture labels there for another decade, moving its head offices to Bellevue, Washington in 1974. The boat repair yard remained in operation until 1981, at which point APA transferred all its Semiahmoo property (including buildings, artifacts and records) to Whatcom County Park and Recreation Board. In March 1982, Alaska Packers Association was formally renamed DMC Properties. As a subsidiary of Del Monte Corporation, DMC Properties continued to deal in real estate in Alaska.

Background information from:

The Alaska Packers Association records , Center for Pacific Northwest Studies, Western Washington University , Bellingham, WA, 98225

DeMuth, Phyllis & Sullivan, Michael, A Guide to the Alaska Packers Association records 1891-1970 , ( Juneau, Alaska : Alaska Department of Education Division of State Libraries and Museums , July 1983 ).

From the guide to the Alaska Packers Association records, 1841-1989, 1890-1974, (Western Washington University Heritage Resources)