OPERATIONS IN CALIFORNIA IN 1873. 383 



August 15, 677 



September 14,706 



October 3, 0S2 



November 2, 367 



December 3, 716 



January 5, 514 



February 5,799 



March 11, 394 



April 15, 563 



May 27,394 



June... 5,561 



July 6,043 Total 105,796 



The proportion of sturgeon and salmon in the various months are 

 estimated as follows : 



January : 10 per cent, salmon ; 90 per cent, sturgeon. 



February : 10 per cent, salmon ; 90 per cent, sturgeon. 



March : 50 per cent, salmon ; 50 per cent, sturgeon. 



April : mostly salmon. 



May : all salmon. 



June : all salmon. 



July : all salmon. 



August : all salmon. 



September : all salmon. 



October : 50 per cent, salmon ; 50 per cent, sturgeon. 



November : 50 per cent, salmon ; 50 per cent, sturgeon. 



December : 10 per cent, salmon ; 90 per cent, sturgeon. 



Besides the salmon above mentioned, a large number are taken by 

 sailing-vessels and by the opposition-line of steamers and other con- 

 veyances to San Francisco and the larger towns. 



The points from which salmon are shipped on the river- steamers are 

 Sacramento City, Courtland, Emmatown, Eio Vista, Collinsville, Anti- 

 och, Benicia, Martinez. 



In the spring of 1872, about 25,000 salted salmon came from the Sac- 

 ramento River to San Francisco, and in the fall about 9,000. 



The Rio Vista salmon-fishermen recommend the prohibition of fishing 

 from June 1 to October 1 or from June 15 to October 15. 



Fyke-net fishing. — The fyke-nets have a mesh of 2£ inches. There 

 were, in the winter of 1872-'73, eighty-five fyke-nets on the Sacramento 

 at Rio Vista. They are stationary of course, and are examined every 

 twenty-four hours. 



All the kinds of fish in the river are caught in these nets. Mr. John 

 D. Ingersoll, a prominent fyke-fisherman of Rio Vista, informed me that 

 the daily catch for twenty nets is now about seventy-five pounds of fish. 

 They include: chubs,* (Eos. 210-216, Smithsonian collection;) perch, (Eos. 

 217-231, Smithsonian collection ;) hardheads, (Eos. 231-236, Smithsonian 

 collection;) Sacramento pike, (Eos. 237-243, Smithsonian collection;) 

 viviparous perch, (Eos. 244-250, Smithsonian collection ;) split-tails, (Eos. 

 251-262, Smithsonian collection ;) suckers, (Eos. 263-264, Smithsonian 

 collection;) herrings, (Eos. 265-270, Smithsonian collection;) sturgeons, 

 (Eos. 271-273, Smithsonian collection ;) crabs, (Eo. 275, Smithsonian col- 



* Numbers referable to catalogue forwarded with specimens. 



