REVIEW OF THE FISHERIES OF CALIFORNIA' 



By R. H. Fiedler, Chief, Division of Fishery Industries 



CONTENTS 



Page 



Introduction 341 



Trend of catch 341 



Location of the fisheries 345 



Cannery fish 348 



Market fish 360 



Page 

 Shellfish 365 



Alaskan fisheries ■ 366 



California department of natu- 

 ral resources 368 



Game fishing 368 



INTRODUCTION 



California is the only State in the southwestern section of the 

 United States where commercial fishing is followed. The fisheries 

 of this State rank second (from point of value to the fishermen) 

 among those of the United States. In 1927 the 7,033 fishermen 

 employed in the shore and Vessel fisheries of California caught over 

 490,000,000 pounds of fishery products valued (to the fishermen) at 

 more than $10,000,000. This is about 10 per cent of the total first 

 value of the fisheries of the United States. In 1927 there were 

 operated in the vessel fisheries 420 vessels of 5 net tons and over, 

 with a combined carrying capacity of nearly 8,000 tons. 



That portion of the catch marketed fresh, frozen, or cured, in 1927, 

 was valued to wholesalers at approximately $6,500,000; that mar- 

 keted canned, was valued at $17,828,000; and that marketed as by- 

 products, such as fish meal and oil, was valued at $2,495,000. 

 The total value at wholesale and packing plants was $26,823,000. 



TREND OF CATCH 



From 1889 to 1927 (see fig. 1) the general trend in size of catch 

 has been upward. In 1889 it amounted to 53,500,000 pounds and 

 during the following years hovered around this figure until 1899, 

 when the total increased to 75,600,000 pounds. A decline during 

 the next few years was followed by an upward swing, and in 1915 

 the total reached 93,300,000 pounds. Beginning with 1918, when 

 the catch amounted to nearly 263,000,000 pounds, annual figures are 

 available. Since 1923 the catch has shown a great increase, in 1927 

 amounting to over 490,000,000 pounds. 



Judging from these figures one might be led to believe that the 

 fisheries of California have had a phenomenal growth during the 



• Appendix XI to the Report of the U. S. Commissioner of Fisheries for 1930. B. F. Doc. 1087. This 

 document is Chapter V of " Commercial Survey of the Pacific Southwest" by C. R: Niklason of the 

 U. S. Bureau of Foreign and Domestic Commerce. The chapter was prepared by R. H. Fiedler of the 

 U. S. Bureau of Fisheries, partly from material gathered in the field by C. R. Niklason. 



341 



