196 REPORT OF COMMISSIONER OF FISH AND FISHERIES. 
salmon. The bulk of the catch consists of flounders, rockfish, smelt, 
and sturgeon, and neatly the entire yield is sent fresh to San Francisco. 
The shipments of fresh fish during each of the four years ending 1892 
were as follows: | . 
Years. Pounds. | Value. 
IR a sd aon cpeaeoseenbacdoc ccodasoncone cos Se Sao oee Me ees eo A 249, 960 $9, 998 
1 Ree ee eee ae eee eae San ooo eas sob oS doGaoneCeneds Aco: popsagooS - 310, 776 12, 431 
SOW ese ES SRS ER 5 Siow eS ete miele ee ete ae ORI era TAs eee re a nt te ersten tele ae orate Cee 330, 694 18, 226 
1: pe eee eee iar SPS mono o oe Shicuna be sa Sands abeolddae eae onceutoc as 354, 213 14, 169 
SAN FRANCISCO COUNTY AND VICINITY. 
By far the most extensive fisheries of California are located at San 
Francisco, which has the distinction of being the most important fish- 
ing center on the Pacific Coast of North America. Besides maintaining 
valuable fisheries, the city is the principal market for the product of 
nearly every county in the State and is in very close relation with the 
adjacent counties of Contra Costa, Solano, Sonoma, and Marin. 
The branches which give prominence to this region are the general 
market fisheries of San Francisco Bay and tributaries and of the 
adjacent ocean, the cod fishery, the whale fishery, the fur-seal and sea- 
otter fishery, the oyster industry, and the Chinese fisheries. These 
have been so fully described in the previous report that it is only nee- 
essary at this time to record their extent and the few changes whicb 
have ensued. 
PHYSICAL FEATURES OF SAN FRANCISCO BAY AND TRIBUTARIES. 
A large part of the salt-water and fresh-water fish received in San 
Francisco is taken in San Francisco Bay and its tributary bays and 
streams. This inland water area is of large extent and well adapted to 
the support of a large amount and variety of animal life. The quantity 
of fishery products annually withdrawn from these waters is enormous, 
but it is doubtful if the full resources are utilized or appreciated. 
In a general way the dimensions of San Francisco Bay and the 
smailer bays connected therewith may be stated as follows: From 
the southern end of San Francisco Bay, bordering on Santa Clara 
County, to San Francisco is a distance of 25 miles, the width of the bay 
being from 2 to 10 miles. Between San Francisco and the entrance 
of San Pablo Bay the distance is 11 miles; San Pablo Bay is 10 miles 
long and from 8 to 10 miles wide. Karquines Strait, which connects 
San Pablo Bay with Suisun Bay, is 8 miles long and $ to 1 mile wide. 
Suisun Bay is 16 miles long and from 4 to 6 miles wide. The total 
length of these connected waters is about 70 miles. 
At the northern end of Suisun Bay, in Solano County, the two largest 
rivers in the State have their outlets. A peculiar feature of these 
rivers, probably not found elsewhere in the United States, is the rela- 
tion existing between their respective sources and outlets. The San 
