FISHERY BULLETIN: VOL. 70. NO. 3 



teacher on my first job after receiving my secondary 

 school teacher's certificate and in my zeal I must 

 have borne down rather heavily on my students, but 

 most of them took it and seemed to like it. 



"Came the end of the first 'advisory period' and I 

 reported three or four students to the Principal as 

 failing to make satisfactory grades. Among them was 

 Elton Sette. The next day, the Principal came to me 

 with a worried expression to ask what was the trouble, 

 explaining that Elton was starting his senior year and 

 everyone expected him to graduate with honors. I 

 agreed that Elton was learning chemistry (witness 

 the very good grades he earned in the frequent little 

 written quizzes), but he seldom was prepared to recite 

 on the day's assigned section in the textbook and, 

 moreover, his laboratory notebook was quite incom- 

 plete. 



"Elton apparently had acquired the habit of listen- 

 ing intently in class to the recitations and discussions 

 of his more diligent classmates, sorting and storing 

 the pertinent facts in his retentive and discerning 

 mind, and instantly recalling them to write an excel- 

 lent examination paper. The Principal gravely agreed 

 to speak to Elton. Elton's performance immediately 

 improved, and he went on to graduate as the Val- 

 edictorian of his class." 



Almost two years passed before Sette en- 

 countered Elmer Higgins again. He had been at- 

 tending San Diego Junior College, with definite 

 plans to enter the University of California in the 

 fall of 1918. Then, one day as he was walking 

 down a street in San Diego, they happened to 

 meet. Higgins invited Elton to accompany him 

 on an exploratory trawling trip. When Elton 

 saw what came up in the nets, he was fascinated. 

 He knew right then he wanted to become a fish- 

 ery biologist. Elmer Higgins was now working 

 at the California State Fisheries Laboratory in 

 San Pedro as a scientific assistant. Dr. Wm. F. 

 Thompson, Director of the Laboratory and in 

 charge of fishery investigations in southern Cal- 

 ifornia, was especially interested in the albacore 

 fishery, and needed observations of landings 

 from San Diego. He asked Higgins if he knew 

 of any former student who could be recruited 

 for summer work. Higgins immediately wrote 

 Sette who agreed to check the canneries for al- 

 bacore landings. So, Elton Sette, through the 

 chance intervention of Elmer Higgins, began his 

 career working with fisheries at 18. 



He did not enroll at the University in Berkeley 

 that fall as planned. Instead, he joined other 



young men his age and served in the U.S. Army. 

 World War I was in the final stages. Upon his 

 discharge in 1919, he joined the staff of the State 

 Fisheries Laboratory. 



A definite program of scientific investigation 

 concerning the sardine was inaugurated in 1920 

 by Dr. Thompson. The increasing commercial 

 importance of this fishery made it necessary to 

 learn about sardine habits and determine the ef- 

 fects of fishing on the resource. Elton Sette was 

 assigned to this investigation from the begin- 

 ning. He was sent to Monterey, the center of 

 the great sardine canning industry. 



In his first report, Sette wrote "Hopkins Ma- 

 rine Station courteously granted the Fish and 

 Game Commission use of quarters and facilities." 

 Other accounts described his office as "a day- 

 dreamer's paradise, punctuated with bird watch- 

 ing, and girl watching, in the picturesque cove 

 below." In spite of distractions, he states the 

 investigation was carried on "energetically." His 

 first article was published in California Fish and 

 Game in October 1920. In this publication he 

 described the Monterey fishery, his work, and ex- 

 pressed a prophetic interest in the yearly fluctu- 

 ations in abundance and sizes of the fish as well 

 as concern for the fishery unless "intelligent con- 

 servation measures" were adopted. This early 

 interest in the underlying causes of fluctuations 

 in pelagic fish abundance and what can be done 

 to prevent the depletion of these resources has 

 remained with him throughout the years. 



In September 1920, he took a leave of absence 

 to attend Stanford University to finish college. 

 His two years there were rich ones, for under 

 David Starr Jordan's guidance Stanford was the 

 center of fisheries research on the west coast. 

 Many Stanford graduates became outstanding 

 leaders in various aspects of fishery science. 

 It was a great peer group, and lifelong associ- 

 ations were formed in the inspiring, informal 

 gatherings where ichthyology and research 

 problems were discussed. But it was not all 

 work or talk. Sette found time to play tennis 

 and collect butterflies on Jasper Ridge. He grad- 

 uated with a Bachelor of Arts in Zoology in June 

 1922. 



After graduation Sette continued his work 

 with the State Fisheries Laboratory, as a scien- 



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