176 
OCEAN AND STREAM SALMON 
CATCHES. 
Frequently the question is raised as to 
the relative importance of trolling and 
stream netting for salmon in California 
so that a summary of the figures of total 
salmon catch may be of general interest. 
The 1920 figures are not yet complete. 
The following figures, in round numbers, 
represent yearly total salmon catch of the 
state in pounds of fish in the round. 
River caught. Ocean caught. Season total. 
1919___ 5,987,000 7,158,000 13,145,000 
1918___ 7,173,000 5,920,000 13,093,000 
1917___ 5,493,000 5,563,000 11,056,000 
1916___ 5,342,000 5,501,000 10,843,000 
There are three chief trolling regions: 
(1) Shelter Cove, (2) vicinity of San 
Francisco, (8) Monterey Bay. The two 
chief netting regions are the Sacramento 
river and the northern coast streams such 
as the Hel, Klamath, and Smith rivers. 
The 1919 salmon catches for these regions 
expressed in percentage of the total catch 
of the state are as follows: 
Region. Per cent 
Ocean— 
Shelter (Cove == k— poe. 2 ee 22 
aie ren CISCOMe ae a ee ee iik 
Manterh yi bay) ee 8 22 55 
Stream— 
Sacramento River —_~~_-_~-__ 35 
INoniherneEvivierss == ee ae = 10 45 
100 100 
The salmon caught at Monterey, out- 
side San Francisco, and in the Sac- 
ramento River are generally classed 
together as a unit since it is assumed 
that they result from spawning in the Sac- 
ramento. At present a possible restriction 
of the trolling and netting of salmon is 
being discussed. A contrast in the catch 
by these two methods is shown by the 
following table of catch in round numbers 
of pounds: 
(Taken with 
nets) 
Mont. Bay. Outside S. F. Troll fish. Sac. River. 
1919_ 2,816,000 1,443,000 4,259,000 4,529,000 
1918_ 2,898,000 1,929,000 4,822,000 5,938,000 
1917_ 3,880,000 1,280,000 5,160,000 3,971,000 
1916_ 5,231,000 263,000 5,494,000 3,451,000 
There are changes from year to year 
in the importance of the salmon fishery of 
CALIFORNIA FISH AND GAME. 
any one locality. For example, the catch at 
Monterey has dropped off while the Noyo- 
Shelter Cove catch has been steadily in- 
creasing due to the recent development 
of the industry at those northern trolling 
points. In 1917 the total from the Noyo- 
Shelter Cove region was less than a half 
million pounds, in 1918 over one million 
and in 1919 only a little less than three 
million pounds. A minor item of interest 
is that each year a few salmon are caught 
by trolling and netting along the coast 
of the southern counties far to the south 
of Monterey. Last year 10 pounds were 
reported, in 1918 one thousand and in 
1917, 2000 pounds. Wireline 
THE SALMON SEASON AT MONTEREY, 
The Monterey salmon season of 1920 
was even poorer than last year. ‘The 
catch is roughly estimated at one-fourth 
of the normal or about one-half of last 
year’s catch. In round numbers the 
Monterey catch (exclusive of Santa Cruz) 
was 1,290,000 pounds, this year as op- 
posed to 2,516,000 pounds in 1919. The 
early season’s catch this year was better 
than a year ago, but there was not the 
customary large run during the latter 
half of May and the first two or three 
weeks of June. The season practically 
ended in June, but there was a small 
catch on two or three days near the end 
of July. The local trolling fleet was 
about quadrupled by the addition of boats 
from northern points, but the poor catch 
‘was so discouraging that many fishermen 
returned to San Francisco during the 
middle of the season. 
In spite of the fact that each year has 
seen a steadily increasing number of boats 
trolling for salmon in Monterey Bay, the 
yearly catch has been dropping off, as 
shown by the following figures, in round 
numbers, of pounds of salmon caught in 
the bay. 
1919. 
2,816,000 
1918. 
2,893,000 
1917. 1916. 
3,879,000 5,231,000 
As stated above, the 1920 catch is little 
more than half that of 1919. 
Wi. deine 
