174 
gill nets but the principal method of 
catching is by the use of long lines, sim- 
ilar to the lines used by the California 
Fish and Game Commission in its ex- 
perimental fishing for albacore in south- 
ern California waters a year or so ago. 
They have found this the most successful 
way of catching albacore and the most 
economical. The principal bait used is 
fresh squid. The method of using hand 
lines and lines on short poles, as em- 
ployed in California, is used only to a 
limited extent in Japan. It is his idea 
that the use of the short poles, which is 
known to our fishermen here as the “Jap 
pole method,” is only successful at times 
when the albacore are very plentiful. The 
long lines, he states, are most successful 
in catching albacore in the spring and 
fall of the year, and these are the times 
when the albacore catch is the largest. 
It may be of interest to note here that 
the experimental fishing done by this Com- 
mission some time ago demonstrated the 
fact that by the use of long lines the alba- 
core may be taken at times when they 
are not feeding at the surface and con- 
sequently cannot be taken by surface fish- 
ing methods such as the use of short hand 
lines and the “Jap pole method.’’ The 
blue-fin tuna also takes the long line and 
hooks quite freely. 
UNITED STATES BUREAU OF FISH- 
ERIES, SAN PEDRO LABORATORY. 
The work of the United States Bureau 
of Visheries Preservation Laboratory at 
San Pedro is being temporarily continued 
by the Fish and Game Commission until 
funds can be obtained by the Bureau. 
There is hope that ‘he bureau will get an 
appropriation which will enable it to con- 
tinue the laboratory from the first of 
January and to reimburse the state for 
what it has spent; although this last, 
while possible, is hardly probable. The 
bureau continues virtually to direct the 
work although the state, in order to get 
due credit, appears as the operator and 
will publish the preliminary reports of the 
work. The Commission entered into this 
arrangement believing that by so doing 
it would aid in the expansion of our 
fisheries and would prevent the almost 
total loss of the laboratory’s preceding 
year’s work. It was believed that by so 
doing the fish canners of the state would 
CALIFORNIA FISH AND GAME. 
be pleased and all others interested in 
the wellfare and development of the fish- 
ing industry. 
In helping to this extent there was the 
desire to aid a federal bureau which stands 
for the development and conservation of 
the fisheries as does no other bureau—a 
bureau which for many years has carried 
on fisheries conservation work in this 
state and which it is hoped will continue 
to carry on in the future. 
The laboratory, a year ago, undertook 
fish canning experiments which for good 
and sufficient reasons were scheduled to 
continue over a period of two years before 
their completion. It was necessary to 
continue this work for the bureau in order 
to tide it over a temporary financial de- 
pression and thus preserve to the state 
the bureau’s well-equipped laboratory and 
the bureau’s inclination to continue 
this valuable line of research work. If 
we had not done so the years’ work would 
have been lost as well as the $20,000 
already expended. 
The United States Bureau of Chemistry 
has established a laboratory at San Diego 
for work similar to that which is being 
done in the preservation laboratory of 
the United States Bureau of Fisheries at 
San Pedro. There is plenty of work for 
both laboratories and each should receive 
encouragement. ‘The Commission is doing 
all it can to prevent duplication of work 
by the two bureaus and to bring about a 
correlation of their activities. Mr. Almy, 
who will supervise the work of the lab- 
oratory of the Bureau of Chemistry, and 
Dr. Alsburg, head of the bureau, have 
assured the Commission that they desire 
to cooperate to a sufficient extent to avoid 
unnecessary duplication of work. 
OCTOPUS FISHING IN JAPAN. 
Recently several octopi were brought 
into the San Francisco markets which 
had been caught by the local rockeod 
fishermen on rockcod gear. In a recent 
visit from Dr. Kamakichi Kishinouye of 
the Tokyo Imperial University, Japan. 
some very interesting information con- 
cerning the methods used in fishing for 
octopus in Japan was gained. 
One method used is as follows: Long 
lines are let down to which are attached 
earthenware pots or vases of the right 
size to accommodate the octopus for which 
