376 REPORT OF COMMISSIONER OF FISH AND FISHERIES. 

 APPARATUS AND METHODS OF FISHING. 



For the c;iptiiie of sturgeon gill nets are used exclusively. These 

 usually average about 250 fathoms in length, and are worth, all rigged 

 ready to be put in the \vater, $75 each. They are usually about 28 

 meshes, or 21 feet, in depth and have a stretch mesh of 13 inches. 

 About ten years ago a mesh of 16 inches was used, but owing to the 

 decrease in the number of large sturgeon the mesh has been reduced 

 so that more small fish will be taken. A few sturgeon are also taken 

 incidentally at the seine fisheries along the river, but they form a very 

 insignificant part of the total catch. 



The nets are always drifted. The fishermen generally go out about 

 two or three hours before slack water and i)ut their nets overboard. 

 As the fish feed near the bottom, the nets must be arranged so as to 

 reach close to the bottom. This is done by sinking the cork-line the 

 necessary distance below the surlace by means of extra heavy leads on 

 the lower line, and the net is kept track of by attaching to it wooden 

 buoys, called "dabs," by means of ropes. The fishermen drift along 

 behind their net, usually about the middle of it. Should a buoy indi- 

 cate that anything has been cai)tured in the net, the fishermen at once 

 take in that section, and if a fish has been gilled it is hauled into the 

 boat and the net is reset. The stiugeon are taken aboard by means 

 of long-handled hooks of round iron. Although from 6 to 10 feet 

 in length, they struggle very little when gilled. When being hauled 

 into the boat they seem to lose all heart, and are generally rolled in 

 like a log. They make a rather dillicult object, however, to get into a 

 boat, owing to their great bulk and weight. The two men forming the 

 crew have all they can conveniently handle when a big female sturgeon 

 is taken. A fisherman at Bayside has been known to handle a 7-foot 

 female single-handed, but this was a very unusual occurrence. 



The net is usually fished but once a day. It is taken in at slack 

 water and the fishermen come back to camp with the ebb tide. 



A considerable saving could doubtless be effected if the skiffs were 

 fitted up with small naphtha engines and paddles or screws. On the 

 river the shad-gillers have fitted up some of their skiffs in this way. 

 With such an arrangement the fishermen would be independent of the 

 weather. It is important that sturgeon be landed at the butchering 

 floats or wharves at the earliest moment possible, and when the wind is 

 adverse it is difticult to do this without the exhausting operation of 

 rowing, and even this is impossible if the skiff is very far from the camp. 



CLASSIFICATION AND VALUE OF FISH. 



The fishermen classify the fish as follows: "Cow" fish, female stur- 

 geon which have hard roe, which is the kind used in preparing caviar; 

 "runners," female fish with soft spawn which is running out of the fish 

 and is generally too soft to be used for caviar; "slunkers," female fish 

 which have already spawned; "bucks," male fish of all kinds. The 

 last three are valuable only for the Hesh. Two thirds of the catch is 



