34 FISH AND GAME COMMISSION 



SHARK 



The shark industry which rose to such spectacular heights in 1938 

 and the following few years has fallen upon evil days in California. The 

 demand for Vitamin A, principal product of the fishery, is greater than 

 ever, but the supply of sharks is insufficient to provide the raw material. 

 When the shark liver fishery first boomed, many fishermen turned to the 

 new bonanza in response to the incredibly high prices offered. Serious 

 depletion of the soupfin shark, the most important species, resulted from 

 the heavy fishing effort. In 1945 the catch per unit of effort was but a 

 pitiful fraction of what it had been just a few years previously ; as shown 

 by studies made by the Bureau of Marine Fisheries, and published in 

 Fish Bulletin No. 64. However, the generous prices paid for high potency 

 soupfin livers, and hopes of sharing in some of the exceptionally rich 

 strikes still being made have induced many fishermen to remain in the 

 fishery. As a result, the soupfin population is being cropped too heavily, 

 and little hope for any future growth can be expressed. 



Some shark livers taken off the California coast are processed in 

 plants outside the State, particularly in Seattle. However, these ship- 

 ments are more than compensated for by importations of outside livers 

 to the many plants which have become established in California. Imports 

 reached considerable proportions in 1944 and 1945 following the decline 

 of the local soupfin fishery (see Table XII, Appendix, page 106). 



The shark investigation which was instituted several years ago was 

 continued during the biennium and culminated in the publication of Fish 

 Bulletin No. 64. Soupfin sharks are now so scarce as to make the con- 

 tinuation of biological research difficult. Work has been suspended tem- 

 porarily until the return of our research vessel from military service will 

 permit a resumption of field studies. 



TRAWL FISHERY 



The trawl fishery of Northern and Central California experienced 

 a tremendous expansion in 1944 and 1945. Trawling has been carried on 

 in the San Francisco region for many years and rather recently expanded 

 to include the waters near Eureka. Formerly paranzella nets, dragged 

 by pairs of boats, were used exclusively but gradually the more efficient 

 one-boat otter trawl came into use. 



Various species of sole and other flatfish have always been the main- 

 stay of the trawl fishery, as they were the fishes most readily taken by 

 the paranzellas and earlier otter trawls. In answer to the great demand 

 for fresh fish occasioned by military purchases during the war, a new 

 type of trawl net was developed at Eureka in November, 1943. By early 

 1944 this net, the "balloon trawl" which was a modification of the otter 

 trawl, had come into general use. The balloon trawl made possible the 

 large scale capture of various species of bottom fishes which had previ- 

 ously been taken only on set lines because they were active enough to 

 escape the ordinary trawl nets. Landings of rockfish, sablefish, and cultus 

 soared, making possible the fulfillment of government orders as well as 

 contributing to a greatly expanded civilian market for fresh fish. (See 

 Table XIII, Appendix, page 106.) 



