FISHERIES OF THE PACIFIC COAST STATES IN 1904. 15 



The vessels employ practically the same methods in curing and pre- 

 paring the fish as on the Atlantic coast, with the exception that, 

 instead of first salting the fish in hogsheads, large tanks are used. 

 The fish are put up in various ways, such as in 1 and 2 pound bricks, 

 boneless, in fancy boxes, etc. 



SARDINES. 



Sardines are always unreliable as to their movements, all along the 

 coast from Mexico to British Columbia; for one or several years they 

 may be very plentiful at one point, but the next year few or none may 

 be seen. This uncertainty has discouraged effort to establish canner- 

 ies, though one Los Angeles firm located at San Pedro has continued 

 packing for several years, meeting with a good demand from Chicago, 

 Boston, New York, and other eastern cities, at prices equal to those of 

 the European pack. 



The catch in 1904 was made with purse seines by a gasoline steamer 

 which cruised all the season between San Monico and Redondo and 

 occasional h' as far north as Santa Barbara and off the islands of Santa 

 Catalina and Santa Cruz. Besides the sardines the steamer took 

 426,300 pounds of Spanish mackerel, the latter being used at the can- 

 nery to help out the season's pack, which amounted to 4,292 cases of 

 sardines and 5,834 cases of other fish. 



INTRODUCED FISHES. 



The original and present spawning grounds of the shad in California 

 are at the outlets of the Sacramento and San Joaquin rivers, the only 

 streams in this state in which these fish are numerous. They are 

 quite plentiful in the Columbia River, and are taken in seines with the 

 salmon, but as a food fish they are not highly prized in this region, 

 and no special effort is made to take them. During the early catch 

 there is a small demand in Portland at 5 and 6 cents a pound, but as 

 the season advances the price drops to 2 and 3 cents a pound, when 

 the fishermen will not bother with them, either throwing them on the 

 land or returning them to the river. Puget Sound and the coast rivers 

 that first reported shad in small numbers some ten years ago now yield 

 no increase in the catch. In California, also, within the past few years 

 the amount of shad marketed shows a large decrease. At one time 

 these fish were found in the San Francisco market at all seasons of the 

 year, but the} r are now seldom seen during the winter months, and 

 their value has decreased from 8 and 10 to 2 and 3 cents a pound, a 

 price that does not justify fishermen in sending them to market by 

 express with their catch of salmon and striped bass. 



Striped bass, introduced on this coast by the government, have practi- 

 cally confined their range to waters adjacent to the Sacramento and 

 San Joaquin rivers, in which they were first placed. With the aid of 

 16340—07 2 



