CALIFORNIA FISH AND GAME. 
ously depleted in numbers. At the be- 
ginning of this investigation three years 
ago, there was available accurate data 
of the catch for three years preceding, 
so that now we have had six years accu- 
rate data of the catch upon which to pass 
an opinion as to whether it is being 
overfished. The evidence is quite conclu- 
sive that the albacore is not in danger of 
being depleted and we consider that it 
needs no protection as yet. The tuna 
which is mentioned in your letter is a 
closely related fish belonging to the same 
genus and it is not at all likely that it 
will be taken in large enough quantities 
to seriously deplete the supply for at 
least several years to come. 
This state is collecting accurate data 
of the catch of each commercial species 
of fish and this data shows not only the 
total catches of each variety but the 
catch per unit of fishing gear. By means 
of this data we are keeping a better watch 
on the fisheries than is any other state 
and we will be able to detect depletion 
of any species before such depletion has 
advanced beyond the danger point. We 
are not taking it for granted that the 
resources of the sea are inexhaustible; we 
are going on the assumption that any 
species may be exhausted if we eatch it 
in large enough quantities. We are watch- 
ing the tuna fisheries as well as our 
immense sardine fishery very carefully 
and we wish to assure you that there is 
no cause for alarm in the fact that an 
occasional seaplane is used to locate 
schools of tuna. 
As yet there is no demand in the 
markets for the canned blue-fin tuna, in 
fact, there is not the demand there should 
be and it is not likely that the fishing 
for blue-fin tuna will need restricting 
until the public do come to appreciate it 
as a valuable food product. 
We do not consider the use of seaplanes 
in locating schools of fish as a “con- 
temptible practice.” This method of lo- 
cating fish has been used but little on 
this coast. On the Atlantic coast, as you 
may know, the United States Government, 
with the sanction of the United States 
Bureau of Fisheries, is aiding the fishing 
industries to locate fish by this means. 
Seaplanes were used last fall at San 
Diego in locating schools of sardines. 
These seaplanes were furnished by the 
United States Navy and had the sanc- 
tion and assistance of the State Fish and 
Game Commission. 
BUREAU CHIEF INSPECTS CALI- 
FORNIA FISHERIES. 
Dr. H. F. Moore, Deputy Commissioner 
of Fisheries, made a tour of inspection 
of California fisheries and the United 
States Bureau of Fisheries’ Preservation 
Laboratory at San Pedro during Sep- 
tember on his return from the Pan- 
Pacific Science Congress at Honolulu, 
173 
This is Dr. Moore’s first visit to this 
coast for several years. A full week was 
spent on a survey of the fisheries, this 
being occasioned by the recent rapid 
growth of our fisheries and more especi- 
ally by the fisheries conservation work 
now being done by the State Fish and 
Game Commission. Dr. Moore has ex- 
pressed himself as being very favorably 
impressed with the conservation work 
under way in this state. 
TUNA FISHERIES INVESTIGATED, 
A recent visitor to this coast is Dr. 
Kamakichi Kishinouye, of the College of 
Fisheries, Tokyo Imperial University, 
Japan, who is making a special study 
of the comparative anatomy of the 
Scombroid fishes, or in other words, the 
fishes of the mackerel family. He finds 
that the yellow-fin and the blue-fin tunas 
have a remarkable set of blood vessels 
which surround the liver and extend into 
the strip of dark meat along the side of 
the fish, which strip is so noticeable in 
the fishes of the mackerel family. The 
albacore, or long-finned tuna, does not 
show this unusual development, at least 
in such a marked degree. 
The remarkable part of this is that 
this particular arrangement has never 
been deseribed by anatomisits or fish in- 
vestigators. It is believed to have some 
direct bearing on the fish’s ability to with- 
stand cold water. 
Dr. Kishinouye is spending some time 
in southern California in order to make 
a study of this structure in the three 
species of tuna found in those waters, 7.e., 
blue-fin, yellow-fin and long-fin tuna. He 
also wishes to determine if these three 
fish are of the same species as_ those 
found in Japan. He suspects, from work 
he has already done on the anatomy of 
these fishes, that the Japanese blue-fin 
tuna is a different species from the one 
found in the Mediterranean Sea. Here- 
tofore these two, as well as the blue-fin 
tuna found in California, have been con- 
sidered the same species, 
In Japan the blue-fin and yellow-fin 
tuna are caught by immense trap nets 
placed rather close inshore. The long- 
finned tuna, or albacore, cannot be caught 
in this manner as they do not approach 
the shore, living only in quite deep water. 
The albacore is taken to some extent in 
