576 U. S. BUREAU OF FISHERIES 
it would be better to have only one commission as the arbiter between the warring 
factions, for with such an arrangement it is easier to come to an agreement. 
From the standpoint of economy in administration, in the enforcement of laws, 
and the operation of fish hatcheries, it is better to keep them together. Where 
there is a separate commission to administer the commercial fisheries there is 
a tendency to put in commissioners who are financially interested in the fish- 
cries, for it is difficult to get any one to give his time who knows much about 
the fisheries and is able but who is not financially interested in some way. 
The general public knows very little about the commercial fisheries, especially 
the ocean fisheries, and for that reason is little interested in fisheries conserva- 
tion. The result is that the commercial interests will dictate the policies of 
the commission; and it is a notorious fact that almost everyone is strong for 
conservation except when it hits his purse or his sport. 
Many more people are interested in angling for sport, and they are strongly 
in favor of protection for all fish, especially if it is to protect them against 
the commercial fisherman. These ardent anglers frequently can be very help- 
ful in having passed legislation to prevent the overexploitation of a fishery. 
In California, you have probably guessed, we have one commission to ad- 
minster the State’s work on game and fish, including the commercial fisheries. 
The California commission was established in 1872 and was at first known as 
the California Fish Commission. It is evident that in the early days of the 
commission it was aS much interested in the commercial species of fish as in 
any others. Its first act was to bring the shad into the State, and the shad is 
certainly a commercial fish and not a sportsmen’s fish. Next, a hatchery for 
the chinook salmon was established, a fish that is mainly commercial in Cali- 
fornia. Next, the striped bass was introduced and thrived amazingly. It is 
a splendid fish for both food and sport, and for that reason is the cause of 
most of the quarrels between our sportsmen and commercial fishermen. As 
time went on and the commercial fisheries remained comparatively unimpor- 
tant, the commission became more a sportsmen’s organization, with sportsmen 
as commissioners. 
It was not until 1897, more than 30 years after the establishment of the 
commission, that any attempt was made to carry on scientific investigations 
in connection with the commercial fisheries. At that time investigations were 
begun on the life history of the chinook salmon. From time to time after that 
zoologists were employed to investigate certain problems pressing for solution. 
These were along the line of determining facts concerning the life history of 
certain species of economic importance. These included salmon, striped bass, 
crab, spiny lobster, abalone, and Pismo clam. 
While these investigations were in no case continuous or complete, and there 
was no organized program for the care of the various fisheries, the commission 
made remarkably good use of the information gained from the investigations 
in getting conservation laws passed by the legislature. 
With the birth of the tuna-canning industry in southern California in 1912, 
there also arose an interest in the fisheries on the part of prospective investors 
and others, and as a result of this interest numerous technical questions were 
asked of the fish and game commission, which for a time it tried to answer by 
referring them to persons outside of the commission. It became evident to the 
commission that it needed to have some one steadily employed who could handle 
the correspondence relating to the fisheries—one who could familiarize himself 
with the problems of the growing fisheries. 
In 1914 I accepted this position and was given an assistant, and a little later 
we were given a room with a telephone, and later we acquired a stenographer, 
and soon our own files and reference books. We grew to be looked upon as a 
part of the commission. To some we were an unnecessary part and were 
jokingly dubbed the ‘“ hot-air department.” 
I have given these details to show that the organized fisheries work of Cali- 
fornia was forced upon it by the growing fisheries industries. The two mem- 
bers of the department busied themselves with getting all the information they 
could on the fisheries subjects that were expected to come up at the 1915 
session of the State legislature. During that session, the two members of the 
new department were present at all of the meetings of the fish and game com- 
mittees of both the senate and house. We were there at the request of the 
chairmen of the two committees to give any technical information that might 
be desired by the committees. It was easier in those days, when we were 
hitting only the high spots, to answer the questions than it was later, when we 
knew more about it. With all that, our information was of a higher order 
