

CALIFORNIA FISfl AND GAME. 



85 



tuuity to hunt geese out of se.o-son, but few 

 took into consideration the conservation 

 of the geese. Geese ai"e very greatly di- 

 minished in numbers, and they are in need 

 of careful protection in order that the 

 necessary breeding stock be maintained. 

 Promiscuous spring hunting would neces- 

 sarily endanger breeding stock. 



A misleading statement which appeared 

 in newspapers to the effect that, owing 

 to damage to grain crops by the geose near 

 Tulare Lake, people would be allowed to 

 kill geese, brought countless inquiries to 

 the Fish and Game Commission offices and 

 stirred up "a tempest in a teapot." The 

 statement suggested that under the cir- 

 cumstances the Fish and Game Commis- 

 sion would "wink at the law" giving pro- 

 tection to geese. A treaty with Canada, 

 the federal Migratory Bird Law, and a 

 state law all provide for an open season of 

 three and one-half months, from October 

 1.1 to January 31, inclusive. It would take 

 both federal and state enactments to pro- 

 vide a longer open season. Under such cir- 

 cumstances, even under the pretext of an 

 emergency, the Fish and Game Commission 

 had no power to change the present law. 

 Furthermore, the Commission, knowing 

 the resulting difficulty of law enforce- 

 ment, refused to "wink" at any law on the 

 statute books. It was of interest to find 

 that, although geese were causing real 

 damage, the rancher neither wished to 

 slaughter the geese nor to allow others 

 to slaughter, but simply wanted to pro- 

 tect his crops. By far the greater com- 

 plaint of damage came from townspeople 

 who, under the pretext of helping to pro- 

 tect crops, desired a chance to hunt geese 

 out of season. 



Fortunately, a rain scattered the geese 

 soon after agitation was at its height and 

 ranchers had little difficulty in protecting 

 crops. Herding the geese from the fields 

 with rifles and frightening them with 

 bombs were the two methods most widely 

 used. 



A NEW AQUARIUM FOR SAN 

 FRANCISCO. 



Mr. Sigmund Steinhart. a philanthropic 

 citizen of San Francisco, provided in his 

 will sufficient funds to build a fine 

 aquarium. The building is now nearly 

 completed and will cost $2.50,000. Both 

 fresh and salt water fish will be displayed. 

 Outdoor pools will be provided for seals, 



sea lions, porpoises and other aquatic 

 mammals. The aquarium is situated in 

 Golden (iate Park and is to be under the 

 direct control of the California Academy 

 of Sciences. The funds for the mainte- 

 nance and the operation of the Stein- 

 hart Aquarium will be furnished by 

 the city of San Francisco. A charter 

 amendment submitted to the voters of 

 San Francisco in November, 191G, 

 directs the supervisors to include an 

 item of not less than .$20,000 in their 

 annual budget to be used for the mainte- 

 nance of a public aquarium. This aqua- 

 rium should do much to educate the 

 people of the state i-egarding fish life and 

 fisheries. 



MANY TONS OF SHARKS MARKETED. 



Large catches of sharks were reported 

 during the last two weeks of January, 

 191S. The greater number of these sharks 

 were the well known dog fish but a few 

 Henlis sharks were also taken. These 

 fish averaged from four to six pounds. 

 Such a large number were caught that 

 many were thrown overboard and doubt- 

 less the total catch was well up to the 

 100,000 pound mark. 



A NEW HATCHERY ON KLAMATH 

 RIVER IS PLANNED. 



A law recently passed by the legislature 

 provides that when it is proved unfeasible 

 to install a fish ladder over a dam, a 

 power company will be required to in- 

 stall a fish hatchery instead. A .similar 

 law has been in operation in Alaska for 

 .several years. The first hatchery to be 

 erected under this law will probably be 

 placed on the Klamath River near Copco, 

 where the California-Oregon Power Com- 

 pany has a ISO-foot dam. Experts have 

 proved that a fish ladder over this dam 

 would be impracticable. The California- 

 Oregon Power Company has therefore 

 agreed to the erection of a hatchery on 

 its property on Fall Creek. The United 

 States Bureau of Fisheries which has 

 operated a spawning station lower down 

 the Klamath River has given up its worK 

 at this location and relinquished control 

 to the California Fish and Game Commis- 

 sion. 



The solution of the problem arising 

 from the Copco dam has thus been solved 

 and improved fishing conditions on the 

 Upper Klamath River are to be expected. 



burlinqame 



PUBLIC 



