THIRTT-FIBST BIENNIAL REPORT 125 



which is now in final form for the printer. This report will be a 

 valuable contribution to our knowledge of the striped bass, as our 

 knowledge of much of this fish 's life history and the exact effect of the 

 present conservation measures has been rather hazy. The report will 

 no doubt be in demand by sportsmen and commercial fishermen alike 

 and by all who are interested in striped bass on the Atlantic coast, 

 which is the original home of this fish. The report is in three parts. 

 In the first, the life history is dealt with, which includes age and rate 

 of growth, spawning, age and size at maturity, migration, and food. 

 The second part treats of the relation of these facts in the life history 

 to the problems of conservation. A few of the subjects treated are : 

 The commercial catch of striped bass; explanation of the term ** sea- 

 son"; methods of sampling; length frequencies of the monthly com- 

 mercial catch; age groups in the commercial catch; selectivity of the 

 commercial nets; spawning period; summary; and under "Conclu- 

 sions" are given: Effect of the regulation of nets; twelve-inch limit; 

 ten-pound limit; closed seasons and closed districts; recommendations. 

 We know of no report which so thoroughly and in such a practical 

 manner works out the complicated and baffling problems connected with 

 the conservation of a fishery. The third part is given over to a discus- 

 sion of the methods of fishing. This includes a description of all types 

 of gear and their use ; the boats and the handling of their catch. There 

 is also included a list of literature cited. 



SEA LIONS 



Paul Bonnot for a number of years has carried on an investigation 

 of the seals and sea lions of California. The results of this work are 

 contained in occasional articles in California Fish and Game and in 

 Fish Bulletin No. 14, published in 1928. A census of the sea lions, 

 taken at yearly intervals, discloses the fact that there are less than 

 8000 of these animals in the state and that the number is yearly becom- 

 ing less. ]Mr. Bonnot recommends that the size of some of the rookeries 

 be reduced by humane and scientific methods. The rookeries should 

 not be destroyed, he believes, but some of them should be reduced and 

 kept at a comparatively low level by killing a certain percentage of the 

 new-born pups. To do this work properly, it will be necessary for the 

 state and the federal Department of Commerce, through the Bureau of 

 Fisheries, to cooperate, as the largest rookeries are on federal lighthouse 

 reservations under the jurisdiction of the Department of Commerce. 

 It will also be necessary to amend our state law so that the killing or 

 capture of sea lions will be under state authority, by prohibiting killing 

 or capture except by state permission. 



Mr. Bonnot has also carried on a number of investigations of minor 

 fisheries, some of which are little known. Among these investigations 

 are the whitebait fishery, abalones, sea weed and kelp industry, shrimp 

 fishery and the oj'ster industry. His reports have appeared from time 

 to time in California Fish and Game. 



SEA FISHERIES PATROL 



The great advance in recent years in the fisheries of southern Cali- 

 fornia, especially the building of large "high seas" Diesel-driven fish- 

 ing boats which operate great distances from port, has made it neces- 



