THIRTY-SECOND BIENNIAL REPORT 75 



eggs, attached to the swimmerets on the underside of the tail. The 

 season remains closed until October 15th. The season could open earlier 

 than October 15th as far as the conservation of lobsters is concerned, 

 but it was thought best to keep the season closed until the more rigorous 

 weather of the late fall, so as to discourage what are termed "fair 

 weather fishermen," who would otherwise deprive the regular expe- 

 rienced winter fishermen of the benefit of the higher prices at the open- 

 ing of the season. 



The law also provides that lobsters may be brought in from Mexico 

 during our closed season, if they come in under inspection and are 

 marked so that we may be sure they are not from our own local waters. 

 For a number of years Mexico has had the same season as ours, but in 

 1931 Mexican officials permitted their season to open on October 1st, 

 or 15 days in advance of ours. The Mexican lobsters thus got the 

 advantage of the higher opening prices. When our season opened on 

 October 15th, the market had been weakened and our fishermen were 

 the losers. That part of our law which exempts imported lobsters 

 from its restrictions as to seasons should be repealed. 



MACKEREL 



The mackerel catch for the State, which had risen in three years 

 from about 5,000,000 pounds to 60,000,000 pounds in 1929, dropped 

 to 16,500,000 pounds in 1930 and to 14,200,000 pounds in 1931. This 

 was due to poor marketing conditions. 



CAT AND DOG FOOD 



In 1931 certain fish packers in southern California started canning 

 a product for feeding cats and dogs. This product is composed of good 

 cooked fish mixed with a cooked cereal. Over 40,000 cases of this 

 product were packed. 



EARLY LIFE HISTORY STUDIES OF THE SARDINE 



The hydrobiological survey of Monterey Bay, a cooperative enter- 

 prise entered into by the Division of Fish and Game and the Hopkins 

 Marine Station of Stanford University, has been continued since 

 January, 1929. A full description of this survey is to be found in 

 the January issue of California Fish and Game for the year 1930. 

 Since that time much work has been done on the complex changes 

 which take place in the waters of the bay. The knowledge thus gained 

 will give us an understanding of the changes in fish population in the 

 bay. Dr. Tage Skogsberg of the Hopkins Marine Station is in charge 

 of the survey. Eugene C. Scofield, a fisheries research worker of the 

 Division of Fish and Game, is assisting and is in charge of the part 

 of the program which has to do with the study of the spawning of the 

 sardine and its early life history. The ultimate aim of this part of the 

 sardine investigations being carried on by the Division of Fish and 

 Game is to learn why, on occasional years, the spawning of the sar- 

 dines is so successful that the fish resulting greatly outnumber the 

 other sardine age or year groups. The group resulting from such a 

 successful spawning is called a dominant year group. 



