50 



CALIFORNIA FISH AND GAME. 



salmon which usually appear by the first 

 of November and reach their height about 

 December 1, did not put in their appear- 

 ance until a few days before the end of 

 November. Steelhead were also late and 

 less than 10,000 pounds were taken which 

 is about one-third of the amount taken 

 last year. The fishermen are endeavor- 

 ing to get the river opened again during 

 the month of January, arguing that the 

 river can furnish 100,000 pounds of steel- 

 head during that month without injury 

 to the steelhead supply. Fishermen on 

 Smith River, Del Norte County, claim 

 the same for that river. 



SEA FOOD WASTED. 



Recently nine hundred pounds of fish 

 were sent from San Diego, California, to 

 El Paso, Texas, to be used by the people 

 of that city on Friday, the day which 

 has been inherited as fish day. The ship- 

 ment arrived too late for Friday's mar- 

 ket and as the next Friday was too far 

 off, the lot went to the city disposal plant 

 after waiting three days for buyers who 

 were willing to take a chance at them on 

 a day other than Friday. The El Pasons 

 did not see the humor of it, but berated 



the express companies for causing a 

 waste of food in these war times. 



NO FIXED PRICE ON SALMON. 

 At the request of the State Market 

 Director, the fishermen, dealers, canners 

 and others interested in salmon, met at 

 his office on December G to discuss the 

 matter of fixing the price of fresh salmon 

 this winter. Detailed figures were pre- 

 sented by the Monterey Bay and Sacra- 

 mento River fishermen, which showed 

 that at any price the market is likely to 

 pay, the fishermen will not make expenses 

 during the winter or off season, which 

 extends from November to April. Under 

 the circumstances, the Market Director 

 determined it would be unjust to fix the 

 price at this time. 



KELP HARVEST FOR 1917. 

 The amount of kelp harvested on the 

 coast of California during 1917 was 398.- 

 898 tons. From this kelp was produced 

 0,000 tons of potash (KjO) with a value 

 of $2,100,000.00. Other products are 

 being produced from the kelp, such as 

 acetone, several esters, chetones, sodium 

 alginate, and potassium iodide. 



LIFE HISTORY NOTES. 



DUCKS DIE AT SALTON SEA. 



From about August 15 to the last of 

 October, 1917, large numbers of ducks 

 and other water birds died at Salton Sea, 

 in the Imperial Valley. In the early 

 part of October pintail ducks died by the 

 hundreds and formed a windrow along 

 tlie shore. I counted forty dead bluebills 

 and fifteen canvasbacks in a distance of 

 fifty rods along the shore of the lake on 

 October 14. The birds lose the use of 

 their legs and then of their wings, and 

 finally are absolutely helpless. After 

 developing these symptoms they are cer- 

 tain to die in from one to four days. 



Although cormorants and white peli- 

 cans are numerous, they do not appear to 

 be subject to the disease. Geese also, 

 though abundant, do not seem to be 

 affected. 



Several persons have eaten the meat of 

 the diseased ducks with no ill effects, and 



cats feeding upon the dead birds show no 

 symptoms of poisoning. 



All evidence points to the view that 

 this is the same sort of disease that has 

 appeared at Tulare and Buena Vista 

 lakes in California and at Great Salt 

 Lake in Utah. 



Apparently ducks affected with the dis- 

 ease are benefited with a change to fresh 

 water. My man and I have picked up 

 a great number of birds so affected and 

 have placed them on sandbars at the 

 mouth of the river. Here they appear to 

 do better, but most died or were eaten by 

 coyotes, which are plentiful here. — 

 Charles E. Davis. 



canada geese bred in alameda 



COUNTY. 



Six or seven years ago I bought 

 six Canada geese (Branta canadensis 

 canadensis) at Hawthorne, Esmeraldo 



