40 



CAIJKOKMA KISII AND (iAMK. 



.urowili of keli.. For iit-arly live inoiillis 

 sardiucs were not found in sufficient num- 

 bers in southern California to keep the 

 canneries busy. 



Kf]]). I'he kelp on the surfact' of the 

 water ceased to .urow and the serious 

 shortase of this seaweed which occurred 

 made it very difhcult for the kelp potash 

 companies to secure enough to supi)ly 

 ihcir plants. It is feared that even liie 

 new shocts. wlii<-h conu' up and take the 

 [ilace of ihe loui;- stipes on the surface 

 of the water after they have l)een cut. 

 have l)eeu killed. The best growing time 

 of I he kelp has usually been in the winter 

 months. Just how the stunted summer 

 growth will affect the growth during this, 

 winter is as yet unknown. 



It is now (piite certain that the close 

 of the war will have the effect of putting 

 many (jf the California kelp potash com- 

 panies out of business. Before the war 

 the price of potash was about .$(iv> per 

 ton. but for the past year it has been 

 between .$2ri(> and $or>() per ton. If the 

 price of potash decreases one-half, the 

 majority of the companies will have to 

 cease oi)erations. Already the demand for 

 potash to be used in tlie manufacture of 

 munitions of war has ceased to exist. The 

 immense p'lant of the Hercules Powder 

 Company near San Diego has discontinued 

 harvesting kelp and has issued notice to 

 its one thousand employees that shortly 

 their services will not be required. This 

 c(mii)any has done a great deal of investi- 

 gation work in developing important by- 

 products through the manufacture of 

 which they exi)ected to be al)le to con- 

 tinue operations even after tlie close of 

 the war. lint it has finally been decided 

 that in view of the market jii'ices that 

 will have to be met shortly and tlie entire 

 lack at pre.sent of a market f(n- certain 

 of the by-products, il will be best to 

 reduce the operations of the i)lanl to a 

 very small .scale and only two or three 

 by-products will be i)rodnced tliei-e with 

 a small force. 



Sahiittii. The salmon catch ;it Mon- 

 terey during the siunmer was only about 

 half the usual amount. The fish almost 

 entirely disappeared before the end of 

 May. The catch for June, which is 

 usually large; was a failure. Hut the fish 

 which escaped the hooks of the fishermen 

 in Monterey P.ay later made their appear- 

 ance in San Francisco liav and the Sac- 



ramento lliver on their way to cast their 

 spawn in the river's headwaters. Their 

 appearance in the river was much later 

 tluin usual and at the time when the fish- 

 ermen and salmon jtackers were impor- 

 tuning the Fish and (lame Commission 

 and the Federal Food Administration to 

 extend the season the salmon put in their 

 ap|)earance in great numbers. For a 

 |/ei-iod of two weeks the salmon kept 

 (oming in such numbers that sufficient 

 help could not be obtained to take care 

 of the catch. The final result has been 

 that the combined catch of Monterey 

 liay and the Sacramento River was the 

 largest for several years. The amount 

 of salmon taken up to the end of Septem- 

 l)er in Monterey Bay, outside of the 

 (loldeu Gate, San Francisco Bay and the 

 Sacramento River was 11.040,075 pounds. 

 The catch of salmon by trolling at Fort 

 Bragg was good ; the total amount of 

 the catch reaching a million and a <piar- 

 ter pounds. The run at Fel River 

 Avas considered a failure, the amount 

 taken being le-ss than half the usual 

 catch. The run on the Klamath River 

 also shows a falling off. 



THE SALMON INDUSTRY IVIENACED. 



To dam the waters of the Sacramento 

 at the narrow Iron Canyon above 

 Red Bluff and thus make an immense 

 impounding reservoir for flood control and 

 irrigation purposes, has for years been 

 a dream of those who would develop the 

 resources of the upper Sacramento Valle.v 

 and of those who have been interested in 

 controlling the Hoods on the lower river, 

 'i'here have been frecjnent eft'oils to make 

 this dream come true, but it is only re- 

 cently that there have been hopes of its 

 realization. 



It is now li-roposed by assessing the 

 land in the area to be benefited and by 

 the aid of the state and the United States 

 government to raise .$20,()0O,0O0 for the 

 consti-uction of the dam and irrigation 

 canals. U'he site of the dam is seven 

 miles above Red Bluff. The proposed dam 

 will \ye so high that salmon ascending 

 the river to cast their spawn will not 

 be able to pass even by means of the 

 best "fish ladders" which have been de- 

 vised. An impassable dam at the Iron 

 Canyon will cut the salmon off from all 

 th(^ upi)er tributaries in which they natu- 

 rally spawn, with the e.xci'pfion of Mill 



