316 KESOURCES OF CALIFORNIA. 



they try to keep in shoals by themselves, but do not succeed, 

 and are caught with other small fishes in nets. They are 

 fully equal to the European anchovy, and will soon become an 

 important article of commerce. At present most of those 

 taken are eaten fresh, and only a few are potted. They are 

 caught at all seasons of the year. Sardines are also abundant, 

 and of a flavor equal to those on the coast of France, but 

 larger. They are found in all the bays along the coast froni 

 May to October. An attempt was made several years ago to 

 pickle sardines for the market, but it failed. The herring is not 

 abundant on the coast of California, or at least is not found 

 here in such dense shoals as in the Atlantic, and our species is 

 smaller. It is caught with a net in the shallow waters of the 

 bays. There are no shad in the waters of California. Shrimps 

 are caught in the shallow waters of the bay of San Francisco 

 wdth small mesh-nets, but are becoming very scarce. The 

 sturgeon visits the rivers of the Atlantic states for only a 

 couple of months in a year, but it is abundant in the Califor- 

 nian rivers at all seasons. It never bites, the mouth being a 

 round hole, always open, surrounded with gristle. In the 

 Eastern states the sturgeon is often harpooned, but here it is 

 caught only with nets. The meat is coarse, and is sold at one- 

 fourth or one-sixth the price demanded for the meat of other 

 fishes. The sturgeon might be salted, but nothing has been 

 done in that business yet. An attempt was made several 

 years ago in San Francisco to establish the business of prepar- 

 ing caviare from the roe of the sturgeon, but it did not prove 

 profitable and it was abandoned. Sea-bass, a fish of fine, deli- 

 cate flavor, and highly prized by epicures, is caught with hand- 

 lines outside the heads of San Francisco Bay, and in the bay 

 near Saucelito with nets during the spring and summer. It is 

 not abundant. The sheepshead, an excellent fish, is caught ofi" 

 Santa Barbara with hand-lines during the summer. It should 

 be brought to the market alive in smacks, for it loses its deli- 

 , cacy of flavor soon after death. The jewfish is abundant 

 south of Point Conception, and may easily be taken with a 



