208 REPORT OF COMMISSIONER OF FISH AND FISHERIES. 
SARDINE CANNING. 
This branch of the fishing industry is yet in its infancy on the Pacifie 
Coast. The Golden Gate Packing Company, of San Francisco, estab- 
lished in 1890, had up to 1892 the only sardine cannery on the coast. 
Sardines and anchovies are utilized. Those of small size were packed 
in oil in the usual quarter-pound cans; the larger fish were put up in 
round cans holding 1 and 2 pounds. The goods were of fine quality 
and met with a ready sale, but the quantity prepared was small. A 
number of causes, chief of which was the failure of sardines to enter 
San Francisco Bay in sufficient quantities, limited the pack and caused 
a suspension of the business in 1893, when the cannery was sold and 
removed to Los Angeles County, where sardines were reported to be in 
greater abundance. Of late years sardines have been very erratic in 
their appearance in San Francisco Bay. One year the fish for weeks 
at a time would be extremely plentiful, while during the next season 
they would scarcely be found at all. The quantities of fish packed 
during the three years 1890, 1891, and 1892 were as follows, 100 of the 
quarter-pound cans, 48 of the 1-pound cans, and 24 of the 2-pound cans 
being contained in each case: . 
Grades. 1890. 1891. 1892. 
Oases. Cases. Cases. ° 
(Mer AON sho 5 a 5a5 Gabon onosacreacoseBeesncosonor cecadae tocisposds0naee 3, 000 7,000 10, 000 
One pound ese se see shee cee ieitetemies aie ee eet ieee ote rela atae elie minted ate 5, 000 2.000 | jd ee 
AUS OS SOREN ae see ae onde aan ba bo odOb An seOaoso6c Joseo do oSemaoe secuas descr 5, 000 2, COON eee eee 
7 aE Renae) EMME AN fee ES Re ee 13,000 | 11,000] 10,000 
THE FISH TRADE OF SAN FRANCISCO. 
The fresh-fish markets of San Francisco are interesting and in some 
respects unique. In them one may buy a single pound of fish or a car 
load, both wholesale and retail business being carried on at the same 
stand. About 12,000,000 pounds of fresh fish are handled annually, 
exclusive of those in the Chinese markets. Large quantities of oysters, 
clams, mussels, shrimp, and crabs are also sold. 
The fish are received daily from the adjacent fishing-grounds visited 
by the home fishermen, and from the interior waters and coast towns by 
rail and steamship lines. The fresh and salt waters of the State are 
rich in quantity and variety of animal life, and fishery products from 
all over the State find their way to this market. It is said that over 
275 species of fish are found in the waters of the State, although many 
of these are not used as food, except by the frugal Chinese, who rarely — 
permit anything to go to waste. 
