The riots of 1887 had no lasting impact on the rate of Chinese immigration into the British Columbia lower mainland area. Expanding enterprises, like this salmon cannery in the Vancouver area photographed in 1887, utilized increasing numbers of Chinese workers. Chinese, attended to most of the skilled operations in salmon processing from cleaning fish to labeling and packing the tins. They were tolerated becaused fishpacking was regarded as an unpleasant occupation. In later years when labour strife erupted over attempts to fix the price of salmon, white fishermen used the occasion to voice their frustration at the increasing number of fishing Iicences being granted to a second Asian group, the Japanese.
