In 1929, the purse seiner came on the scene. The net, when drawn closed at the bottom like a purse, captured entire schools of fish. At 80 feet in length the hold could accommodate 100 tons of sardine, 150 tons with a deck load.

With the abundance of fish, new and improved methods were required to bring the catch to the production line in the cannery. Enter Knut Hovden, a Norwegian immigrant who was apparently chased out of town following a mysterious and deadly fire at a fishing operation back home. After bouncing around the country a bit he ended up in Monterey at an opportune time. He was a brilliant inventor and would bring many advancements to the fishing and canning industry, including the Fish Hopper.This was a system of floating wooden containers or hoppers that would be anchored to the seabed and connect directly to the canneries via underwater steel pipes which were installed and maintained by cannery divers you'll hear more about later. Pumps sucked the sardines into concrete holding tanks before they were processed in the canneries.

You are looking at the remnants of one of those holding tanks.

Now, turn and walk back straight along the outdoor patio of the C restaurant, then turn right and enter the side door of the InterContinental Hotel. The craftsman style exterior gives way to a sleek contemporary interior.