131 



B STATE FISFERIl^S C .^i^^-ISSIDHS 



1. Atlantic Co.'-'st. 



The Stn.te Gom'-nissions of Fisheries on the Atl-^ntic Ccft". "r ■• 

 chiefly con<iernod with problems of regulation and patrol and b-^.vc 

 devoted only a s"^nll amount of ""ttention to problems of ocornic 

 blolog7f. There is reason to believe, bowovor, tbat soAreral of 

 these woi,ild gladl^.^ take p-~rt in n study of the biology,^ of f^e fish- 

 es of their pr^rtic^O^r p rts of the const, if money were avril''b;ie. 

 For exnmplo, tbe Ct-'te Gominission of Rhode Island ^^ns in V <.' past 

 cnrried out import.':^ •vt studies of the fish faun-'- of that state. The 

 Stat'.'; rommission of Maine is '^ t present concerned v/ith the st'^. tus 

 of f-e lobster along thrt p- rt of the coast. The St 'te of New 7>;r- 

 se^'" has devoted considerabli; attention to t]"i.e ovster in the Enrnegot 

 Bay region, and the State of Connecticut has wlthan thc^ pnst few 

 years carried on : nvestigations of tbe life histor^r of th'i sb/^d, 

 while other instnnces of the same sort migbt be mentioned. At 

 present, however, none of them maintain vessels fit for off-sbore 

 cruising, include oceanographers on tboir st'^ffs, or regularly 

 offer labor^.tor^,^ facilities. Consequentl-^.^, no nssistonce c^n be 

 expected from tbi:;;r! in tbosu respects. 



2. Pacific Gonst. 



The im'^ortance of tt-^e fisheries to C'^lif orni-^n iadustrY, md 

 the very serious decline which manv of t>^>:» individual fisb.jries 

 have shown within f-^e p^^^:' few yenrs h":A.''o m^-do tbe problem of ocean- 

 ic biology imminent ^or f-^^t st'^.t^.,-. The Of lif or-ni'^n Co'inisr ion, 

 ioj.ntlv wif'"'. Strnford Uniy^ersity, has recentl^,^ undertnl-:en nn in- 

 formal coop'.5r^tive study o^ t>"0 oceanop-rr^nhy, plnnbton and fisb 

 faun"' of tbe Montore^'' region. Tbis entrance into the field of gen- 

 eral oceanogr'^ph;^ is evidence of the growing annrecintion of tbe 

 im.""ortance, even ■f'rom the strictlv oconoraic side, of a thoroufrh 

 understnndini? of f- e lif"e bistories of important fishes if conser- 

 vation is to be sane and effective. Personal cont'^cts witb its 

 of +"ici'^. Is bpve convinced us tt"'':t tbe Commission won Id gladly/- n-irt- 

 icip-^te in any proiect bearin,^ upon the oceanic biologv alone: f-.e 

 Ca.li:^orniin cO'-'st, if this did not clash seriouslv with its prlmar7f 

 duties. Put wit}"! its activities directed b^/ tbe Legislatu.re c'r^ief- 

 ly to economic '^-Ims, such as t^-^e statistic"' 1 stnd" of tbe trends 

 of the sovorrl fish-ai^ies, it c'in only devote a small p-^rt of its 

 income to scientii'ic work the immedi-" l. e worth of which cannot be 

 demonstrnted in oconom.ic terms. Fi,irtbcrmore , . t'-c Commissi:'^/' s bo'^ts 

 rre so fuller occupied by na trol-duti ;s tb-t anv cpnsidvr^blo ex- 

 pansion of its ocennogra"ohic program would presuppos.i the addition 

 of one or two vessel, a to its fleet: also nrovision of tbij -^icne- to 

 onerate thjm, either from tbe Legislature or from some outside 

 source. 



The Commissjon is not in a nosition to carr-'" out exten^'ed 

 cruises, because its i-o" ts are smjill, ita patrol activities -long 

 the Calif ornlan coast being best and most economical 1-^r prosecuted 

 with vessels not more than 80 to 100 "f^eet long. "These, bovvever, can 



-er the "^bole >'readth of the Co-tiTi-ntiil Shelf 



