192 REPORT OF COMMISSIONER OF FISH AND FISHERIES. 



The quantities of cured fish shipped from Wilmington in the years 

 1889 to 1892, inclusive, were as follows: 



Additional shipments of prepared products were as follows : 



Products. 



Abalone meat pounds . . 



Abaloiie shells do 



Sea-lion pelts do 



Sea-lion oil gallons.. 



1889. 



3,170 

 12, 400 



11,000 

 960 



1890. 1891. 



640 



435 

 1,375 



1892. 



4, loO 



Los Angeles, the principal community in the county, has no fisheries, 

 but is the chief distributing-point for fishery products caught in the 

 waters of the county and consumed in many of the interior towns of 

 southern California. Nearly all the fresh fish shipped from the different 

 fishing stations of the county is sent by rail or team to the wholesale 

 and retail dealers of Los Angeles. A somewhat unusual feature of the 

 business is the contracting by the dealers for all the fish caught by 

 the fishermen at a uniform price per pound, usually 4 cents, regardless 

 of the difl'ereiit species. ])ealers in Los Angeles are experimenting in 

 the smoking, pickling, and canning of several of the desirable food- 

 fishes found on the coast of the county. The barracuda have been 

 smoked and pronounced by experts equal to finnan baddies, of which 

 considerable (quantities were previously imported from the East. The 

 bull's-eye mackerel has been pickled to some extent; this is a very 

 good food-fish in a fresh condition, but owing to the deficiency of fat 

 in its flesh it does not make a satisfactory pickled fish. 



Some sardines of excellent quality have been packed in oil, mustard, 

 and other ways common to the trade. In the vicinity of San Pedro 

 and Santa Oatalina Island, sardines are, in their season, found in large 

 quiintities. Dnring February, March, and April of each year small 

 sardines are usually abundant and in fine condition for canning. In 

 May and June the larger sardines arrive and appear to crowd out the 

 fish of smaller size. In July and August the large fish withdraw and 

 the small fisli again become i)lentiful. Up to August the fish are gen- 

 erally in fine condition, but after that date at times the small fish are 

 usually of poor quality for canning. The larger sardines found in this 

 part of the State are somewhat smaller in size than those occurring in 

 San Francisco Bay, being of the size most suitable for packing in 

 half-pound cans in mustard and spices. There appears to be a bright 

 future for the sardine industry in this county, and the expansion of the 

 business may be confidently expected during the next few years. 



