REPORT OF COMMISSIONER OF FISH AND FISHERIES. CXLI 

 STRIPED BASS IN CALIFORNIA. 



In the summer of 1896 the writer made some special studies of the 

 striped bass in the waters of California, supjilemental to the inquiries 

 carried on in 1894, an account of which has been published by the Com- 

 mission.* 



Bistrihution. — The striped bass continues to be most numerous in 

 San Francisco Bay and its tributaries; it is also taken in small numbers 

 in Monterey Bay, and regularly ascends the coast as far as Eussian 

 Elver, which stream it enters. A few have been taken as far south as 

 Los Angeles County. Up to 1896 Eussian Eiver was the supposed 

 northern limit of its range, but in February of that year two medium- 

 sized bass were taken in the Gualala Eiver, which divides Sonoma and 

 Mendocino counties and is nearly 100 miles north of Eussian Eiver. 

 From time to time in 1896 small shipments of striped bass reached the 

 San Francisco market from Alviso, in Santa Clara County; these were 

 taken in the sloughs which connect with the extreme southern end of 

 San Francisco Bay, into which they are sux)posed to run for the pur- 

 pose of spawning. This is the first year the species has been reported 

 from this locality. Very few are caught at Sacramento, and none in 

 salmon gill nets; the few obtained are taken in seines hauled on the 

 bars for catfish. They are found from June to October. In weight 

 they range from 4 to 10 pounds, no large fish being observed. 



Abundance. — The abundance of this fish in the San Francisco Bay 

 region is remarkable and shows no signs of diminution; in fact, the 

 receipts in the markets have been steadily increasing from year to year, 

 and 1896 showed a large gain over 1895. The increased catch is due 

 entirely to increased abundance, and does not represent more active fish- 

 ing operations or the employment of more apparatus; on the contrary, 

 it is probable that less fishing is now done than formerly, when the 

 good prices received for bass were an incentive that is now lacking. 



In Ajiril, 1896, a deputy of the California Fish Commission seized a 

 lot of nets that had a mesh below the size permitted bylaw. They had 

 been set in Honker Bay, an arm of Suisun Bay, and consisted of 200 

 fathoms of 5-inch gill net and about 180 fathoms of trammel net, all 

 belonging to one fisherman. The nets, when seized, had a large number 

 of striped bass in them, weighing from 7^ to 25 pounds, and averaging 

 10 or 12 i)ounds. The deputy making the seizure reports that about 

 465 fish were taken out and given away, the total catch thus being not 

 less than 5,000 pounds. 



So abundant was the fish in the Sacramento-San Joaquin delta in 

 the spring of 1896 that one salmon fisherman reported that "the 

 spring run of salmon this year was all striped bass." In the fall of 

 1895, while fishing for salmon off Sherman Island, in the San Joaquin 

 Eiver, this fisherman had the following experience: He had set a large- 



* A review of the history and results of the attempts to acclimatize fish and other 

 water animals in the Pacific States. By HughM. Smith, M. D. Bull. U. S. F. C. 1895, 

 pp. 379-472. 



