80 



CALIFORNIA FISH AND GAME. 



attitude of some commercial interests. A 

 great pretense of being interested in con- 

 .serving the supply in order to insure their 

 own interests is made, but under this 

 veneer is avarice and selfishnes.s. 



This is what the commercial interests 

 in Texas demanded : 



1. Suspension of the closed seasons 

 for the period of the war. 



2. Removal of restrictions on weight, 

 size, the use of seines and the dredging 

 of oysters. 



3. The drafting of new fish 'and game 

 laws. 



4. Removal of protection from fish- 

 eating birds. 



To the credit of Governor Hobby of 

 Texas no change in the laws has been 

 made, but so plausible was the plea made 

 by the commercial fishermen that the re- 

 moval of restrictions was narrowly 

 averted. 



Every conservation unit should be mo- 

 bilized and held ready to withstand a 

 similar attack in this state. Already 

 slight skirmishes with the enemies of wild 

 life have been recorded. 



FISH 



LAWS MODIFIED BY 

 ADMINISTRATION. 



FOOD 



At an important meeting, chaigea with 

 great interest to the consumers and pro- 

 ducers of sea fish held Saturday in i^'ed- 

 eral Food Commissioner Merritt's offices 

 in San Francisco, the first definite action 

 towards speeding up California's fish pro- 

 duction was taken. 



It was found that the state laws in 

 the main do not restrict the full develop- 

 ment of the fisheries and it was further 

 found that in only a few cases, do they 

 prevent fish from being generally used as 

 food. For example, in order to protect 

 certain game fish, their sale has been pro- 

 hibited. It was deemed wise during the 

 period of the war to remove such re- 

 strictions. Under authority an -ct of 

 Congress entitled "An act to provide 

 further for the national security and de- 

 fense by encouraging the production, con- 

 serving the supply and controlling tne dis- 

 tribution of food products and fuel," ap- 

 proved August 10, 1917, President Wilson 

 issued a proclamation empowering the 

 Food Administration to annul any restric- 

 tive legislation whose conservation 

 features seemed to the Food Administra- 

 tion less essential during the present crisis 



than the incidental curtailment of food 

 supply in the present days of international 

 need. 



After a lengthy discussion the follow- 

 ing changes in the state law were decided 

 on : 



1. California whiting, also known as 

 corbina or surf fish, yellow-fin croaker 

 and spot-fin croaker, the sale of which is 

 now prohibited by the state law, may 

 until further notice be sold. 



2. The possession of paranzella or 

 trawl or drag nets shall not be unlawful 

 while in transit over the waters of Fish 

 and Game District 19, as defined by the 

 state laws, but such netb must not be 

 used or dragged within said district under 

 penalty of revocation of the federal 

 license. 



3. Bait nets may be used in Fish and 

 Game District 20 (Santa Catalina Island) 

 for the purpose of taking bait only. 



4. Halibut below the four-pound mini- 

 mum weight prescribed by the state law 

 may hereafter be sold provided they are « 

 caught in conformity with the laws of 

 this state as above modified. 



The attention of all fishermen is par- 

 ticularly called to the regulation requir- 

 ing every salt water fisherman to procure 

 a license from the United States Food 

 Administration, application for which 

 can be had at the Food Administration's 

 offices. The license of any fisherman vio- 

 lating any of the federal or state laws as 

 above modified or any rule or regulation 

 issued by the United States Food Admin- 

 istration will be revoked and such fisher- 

 men will not thereafter be permitted to 

 engage in the vocation of fishing. 



DISCRETIONARY POWERS INSURE 

 BETTER CONSERVATION. 



Many Eastern states are finding it ad- 

 vantageous to grant sufficient discretionary 

 powers to the fish and game commission to 

 allow a change in seasons and bag limits 

 when unusual conditions arise. xmiue- 

 diate protection is sometimes necessary 

 and a wait of one or two years for a 

 session of the legislature is often danger- 

 ous. Here in California we persist in 

 delegating to the legislature every change 

 in the game laws. No matter what the 

 emergency, no lawful change can be made 

 in the fish and game laws except at the 

 biennial meeting of the legislature. If 



