FISHES OF THE PACIFIC COAST 



The bonito (Sarda chilensis) and the oceanic bonito 

 (Euthynnus pelamis) are also big game fishes. 

 Along the wharves, the chub-mackerel (Scomber 

 japonicus), the small horse-mackerel (Trachurus 

 symmetricus), king-fish (Genyonemus lineatus), 

 queen-fish (Seriphus politus), and a variety of 

 surf-fishes, are also taken. 



Of introduced fishes, two, the striped bass, and 

 the shad, both planted about 1878 from the Potomac 

 and the Schuylkill rivers, have been of the greatest 

 value to California. The striped bass can be found 

 in the markets at all times, and in flavor it is as 

 good as in its native waters. 



I may note in passing that the markets of San 

 Francisco fall far short of what they ought to be, 

 and many fish are served in a stale condition. Even 

 our best hotels are none too particular, for which 

 reason our eastern visitor often wrongly infers 

 that our fish are not as good as those he is ac- 

 customed to. The fish really are just as good. In 

 our glorious climate, they keep longer without de- 

 caying. But in doing this they grow very stale 

 and lose their fine flavor. The difference is not 

 in the fish, but in the care the dealers take of them, 

 and as to this San Francisco will sometime grow 

 more exacting. Other fish which have been in- 

 troduced are the carp (Cyprinus carpio), which has 

 proved an unmitigated nuisance; the two species 

 of cat-fish (Ameiurus nebulosus and A. catus), which 

 are excellent food, highly appreciated by the China- 

 men; the black bass (Micropterus dolomieu), which 

 thrives well in the ponds; and the green-blue sun- 

 fish (Apomotis cyanellus), introduced into Clear 

 Lake as food for the bass. 



The fisheries of Alaska are also largely tribu- 

 tary to California, being developed by California 

 capital, and the product to a great extent brought 

 to San Francisco. 



The red salmon or blue-black salmon, also called 

 sockeye (Oncorhynchus nerka), in Alaska outranks 

 in value every other species of fish in the world. 

 Its annual product in Alaska is worth a million 

 dollars, more or less, more than the original cost 

 of Alaska to the United States. It now exceeds 

 the entire mineral output of Alaska per year by 

 $2,000,000 or more. The great red salmon fisheries 

 are about Bristol Bay and Kadiak Island, but the 

 species runs in some thirty different streams. 



The cod-fish (Gadus macrocephalus) is as abun- 

 dant in the North Pacific as is its twin species 

 (Gadus morrhua) in the North Atlantic, but the 

 limitations of the market have prevented the de- 



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