REPORT OP THE FISH AND GAME COMMISSION, 57 



between difforcnt sizes or qualities of any species or variety, it must be so stated 

 on said record or receipt, and the record shall also state if tiie fish were taken in 

 foi'eii;n waters, or in the hifjli seas off another state or foreij^n country. The names 

 used in the record for designating the variety or species of fish handled must be the 

 name? whicii is in common usage, and the Fish and TJame Commission shall have 

 the iiower to (hx'ide what is thi^ comnioii usage name of iiny variety. 



Tile original cojjy of this record shall he (hdivered to the fisherman at the time 

 of the i)urchase or receipt of the fish, the duplicate copy shall Iw kept by the dealer 

 or i^erson receiving the fish and the triplicate copy shall be delivered to the Fish and 

 Game Commission or any didy authorized assistant thereof. 



When' a fish dealer, canner or i>roserver catches his own fish, he shall fill out 

 the al)o\e record as retpiired when he ))urchases the fish from fisherman or dealer, 

 or if it so desires the Fish and Game Commission may furnish a separate form for 

 such cases. It shall be the duty of the Fish and Game Commission to preserve all 

 such records of the fi.sheries as ,are obtained by it in places adequately safeguarded 

 from fire or other destructive agencies and such records are to be kept in such 

 manner as to render them accessible for reference or research, the intention being 

 to guard against tlie (h>struction or such neglect of the records as will detract from 

 their future value. 



This system is now in use all over the state and ffom the records 

 gathered can be obtained the daily catch of any variety of fish by any 

 boat, wliicli, it will be realized, is of the greatest value in keeping track 

 of the trend of any fishery and in detecting any evidences of depletion. 

 Supplementing this data must be a record of the boats and the fi.shing 

 gear used, therefore a section of the same law requires that every boat 

 fishing in the state or out of any port in the state, must file with the 

 Fish and Game Commission a statement giving the dimensions of the 

 boat, the motive power, number in crew, ecpiipment and description of 

 fishing gear. 



A section of the law also provides that large fishing vessels, such as 

 otter or beam trawls or those operating paranzella nets can be required 

 to keep a record of their trips, number and place of hauls and quantities 

 of each variety of fish caught in each. 



Fislicries data is l)eing gathered and tabulated under these laws and 

 published in the Commission's quarterly magazine California Fish 

 AND Game. Tlie permanent records in the form of the triplicate receipts 

 of the catch and the boat registration cards are being filed in such man- 

 ner that they may be of the greatest good to the fisheries investigator 

 when they may l)e neech'd. The need of a Imilding for tlie filing of these 

 records where they will be safegiuirded from destruction by fire or 

 other causes as required by the law, as well as to provide a proper place 

 for investigators to work, is taken up elsewhere under the title, "A 

 State Fisheries Laboratory." 



During the principal fishing seasons the data of the catch of some of 

 the fisheries have been gathered and tabulated daily for the accommo- 

 dation of the fish packers. During the present year the catch of the 

 more important canning varieties have been tabulated four times a 

 month for the use of canners of the San Diego, San Pedro and ^lonterey 

 districts. 



