THIRTY-FOURTH BIENNIAL REPORT 45 



large fleet of sardine fishing- boats was prepared to fish mackerel with- 

 ont alteration of fishing gear. The mackerel season fits very well into the 

 closed season for sardines. These are the reasons why it has been pos- 

 sible to so quickly develop a major fishery in an attempt to satisfy the 

 demand for canned mackerel. The result of all this was a total take of 

 mackerel in 1934 of 113.785,000 pounds and a take of 146,427,000 

 pounds in 1935. 



California's mackerel fishery is remarkable both for its size and 

 the rapidity of its development. In size its yield is now three times 

 that of the Atlantic coast of the United States. It is considerably 

 larger than the mackerel fishery of England, Scotland and Ireland or 

 of France. It is exceeded only slightly by that of Japan. "We are 

 naturally afraid that this very large catch is more than the California 

 mackerel supph^ can stand without serious depletion. 



An intensive study of this fi.shery was begun a few years ago when 

 it became evident the supply of fish Avas to be more heavily drawn 

 upon. The main features of the mackerel's life history have been 

 learned but the time which has elapsed since the fishery was subjected 

 to a heavy strain has been too short to give us the desired information 

 as to how mucli the fisher}^ can stand. It would seem wise, however, 

 for the legislature to give the Fisli and Game Commission power to 

 regulate or limit the catch, in order that a reasonable annual catch can 

 bo tried out and thus determine wlial tlic maximum production of the 

 fishery should be witliont dojih^tioii ol' the supply. 



OYSTERS 



Over 60 years ago enterprising citizens of California started an 

 oyster-growing industry in the state by shipping oyster seed from the 

 Atlantic coast. The young oysters grew rapidly in San Francisco and 

 Tomales bays and the industry centered in these two bays became 

 profitable. The summer temperatures of the water in California were 

 too low to permit the oysters to spawn successfully, so the supply was 

 kept up by annual importations of seed. All went well until about 

 20 years ago when gradually the oyster seed failed to grow properly 

 and the older oysters became thin and watery as though their food 

 supply was failing them. The exact cause of this decline was not deter- 

 mined as the industrv lacked a technicallv trained adviser, so the ^row- 

 ing of Eastern ovsters was gradually abandoned. In the meantime 

 great strides were being made on Puget Sound in growing oysters, both 

 the small native species, now known to the trade as the Olympia oys- 

 ter, and the imported Japanese oyster which has been given the trade 

 name of Pacific oyster. The success of the industrv in Puget Sound 

 was mainly due to the employment of trained biologists. 



Encouraged by the success of oyster growers on Puget Sound, we 

 decided that, as we have the same native Olympia oyster as well as the 

 Japanese species, and fairly large areas suitable for growing them, a 

 similar industry could be built up in California. We therefore secured 

 the cooperation of the U. S. Bureau of Fisheries who detailed one of 

 their ovstermen, H. C. McMillin, to California. We furnished a trained 

 biologist, Paul Bonnot, to act as his assistant. Surveys of all the state 

 tide lands suitable for oysters were made. As a result of this survey 

 new oyster laws were drafted and passed by the legislature to take the 



