﻿REPORT 
  OF 
  COMMISSIONER 
  OP 
  PISH 
  AND 
  FISHERIES. 
  CXXXIX 
  

  

  The 
  cauniug 
  of 
  salmon 
  is 
  the 
  most 
  important 
  industry 
  depending 
  on 
  

   the 
  fisheries. 
  In 
  1895 
  there 
  were 
  47 
  establishments 
  in 
  operation. 
  These 
  

   employed 
  over 
  33,300 
  persons, 
  and 
  represented 
  an 
  investment 
  of 
  more 
  

   than 
  $2,700,000. 
  The 
  fresh 
  salmon 
  utilized 
  amounted 
  to 
  04,048,000 
  

   pounds, 
  for 
  which 
  $1,968,000 
  was 
  paid. 
  The 
  canned 
  goods 
  comprised 
  

   955,000 
  cases, 
  holding 
  48 
  one- 
  pound 
  cans 
  or 
  the 
  equivalent, 
  the 
  market 
  

   value 
  of 
  which 
  was 
  $4,224,000. 
  The 
  extent 
  of 
  this 
  industry 
  in 
  each 
  

   State 
  is 
  outlined 
  in 
  the 
  following 
  table: 
  

  

  Summary 
  of 
  the 
  salmon-canning 
  industry 
  of 
  the 
  Pacific 
  States 
  in 
  1895. 
  

  

  LOBSTER 
  INQUIRIES 
  ON 
  THE 
  PACIFIC 
  COAST. 
  

  

  As 
  noticed 
  in 
  the 
  last 
  report 
  of 
  the 
  division, 
  some 
  special 
  inquiries 
  

   relative 
  to 
  eastern 
  lobsters 
  on 
  the 
  Pacific 
  coast 
  were 
  begun 
  by 
  the 
  

   writer 
  in 
  the 
  latter 
  part 
  of 
  the 
  fiscal 
  year 
  1895-96. 
  The 
  inquiries 
  were 
  

   especially 
  addressed 
  to 
  the 
  region 
  of 
  Monterey 
  Bay, 
  where 
  the 
  largest 
  

   plants 
  of 
  adults, 
  young, 
  and 
  eggs 
  had 
  been 
  made 
  in 
  1888. 
  

  

  The 
  supposed 
  capture 
  of 
  lobsters 
  in 
  this 
  locality 
  has 
  from 
  time 
  to 
  

   time 
  been 
  reported, 
  but 
  no 
  specimens 
  have 
  ever 
  been 
  seen 
  by 
  persons 
  

   competent 
  to 
  identify 
  them. 
  No 
  apparatus 
  adapted 
  to 
  the 
  taking 
  of 
  

   the 
  eastern 
  lobster 
  is 
  used 
  here 
  or 
  elsewhere 
  on 
  the 
  western 
  coast 
  

   where 
  lobsters 
  have 
  been 
  planted, 
  and 
  the 
  absence 
  of 
  results 
  may 
  rep- 
  

   resent 
  simply 
  a 
  lack 
  of 
  knowledge. 
  

  

  There 
  is 
  a 
  widespread 
  belief 
  on 
  the 
  Pacific 
  coast, 
  especially 
  in 
  Cali- 
  

   fornia, 
  that, 
  through 
  an 
  oversight, 
  the 
  lobsters 
  brought 
  from 
  the 
  East 
  

   were 
  planted 
  with 
  their 
  claws 
  tied 
  together, 
  and 
  that 
  consequently 
  all 
  

   must 
  have 
  soon 
  perished 
  by 
  starvation. 
  This 
  story, 
  originally 
  told 
  as 
  

   a 
  joke 
  at 
  the 
  expense 
  of 
  a 
  member 
  of 
  the 
  California 
  Fish 
  Commission, 
  

   has 
  by 
  many 
  come 
  to 
  be 
  accepted 
  as 
  a 
  fact. 
  It 
  is 
  hardly 
  necessary 
  to 
  

   say 
  that 
  there 
  is 
  absolutely 
  no 
  foundation 
  for 
  the 
  rumor; 
  the 
  lobsters 
  

   were 
  not 
  tied 
  in 
  any 
  way 
  whatever 
  during 
  transportation 
  from 
  the 
  East, 
  

   and 
  they 
  were 
  deposited 
  under 
  the 
  most 
  favorable 
  conditions. 
  

  

  While 
  at 
  San 
  Pedro, 
  Cal., 
  in 
  June, 
  1890, 
  the 
  writer 
  secured 
  3 
  lobster 
  

   traps 
  that 
  had 
  been 
  constructed 
  by 
  an 
  eastern 
  lobster 
  fisherman 
  some 
  

   years 
  before. 
  These 
  had 
  been 
  set 
  for 
  the 
  spiny 
  lobster, 
  but 
  had 
  been 
  

   discarded 
  as 
  being 
  non-effective 
  for 
  that 
  species. 
  The 
  traps 
  were 
  sent 
  

   to 
  Monterey 
  for 
  the 
  purpose 
  of 
  setting 
  them 
  in 
  that 
  bay 
  for 
  eastern 
  

   lobsters. 
  After 
  securing 
  the 
  services 
  of 
  a 
  local 
  boatman 
  and 
  fisherman, 
  

   there 
  was 
  begun 
  a 
  series 
  of 
  trials 
  for 
  lobsters 
  in 
  various 
  parts 
  of 
  the 
  

   bay. 
  Fresh 
  rock-cod 
  and 
  flounders 
  were 
  used 
  for 
  bait 
  and 
  the 
  lobster 
  

   traps 
  were 
  rigged 
  and 
  set 
  as 
  on 
  the 
  Kew 
  England 
  coast. 
  The 
  experi- 
  

  

  