13 



persons familial* with the young of various kinds of crustaceans, will 

 decide whether the so-called young Lobsters which have made their 

 appearance in the Bay of San Francisco, during the present season, are 

 in reality Lobsters. Great interest appears to be felt in the introduc- 

 tion of this variety of shell-fish to the Pacific Coast. 



Should the Legislature see fit to increase the appropriation, we will 

 again make the attempt to plant Lobsters in the waters of California. 

 In furtherance of this project, Professor Baird has been making various 

 experiments at Woods' Hole, Massachusetts, during the present Sum- 

 mer, for the purpose of ascertaining by what mode Lobsters can longest 

 be kept alive. When the results of these experiments have been demon- 

 strated, we will again make the attempt. 



SEA LIONS AND SEALS. 



For many years the Sea Lions and Seals which inhabit the cliffs near 

 the entrance to the Bay of San Fi-ancisco, have been preserved by 

 special enactment, and penalties imposed on any person who should kill 

 or disturb them. The result is, that they are probably now a hundred 

 times as numerous as they were ten years since, and are to be found 

 there in thousands. When it is considered that they weigh from two 

 to five hundred pounds each, and that they each consume at least from 

 ten to twenty pounds offish daily, it will be readily seen that the quan- 

 tity caught ai the entrance of tlie harbor and in the Bay of San Fran- 

 cisco, .bj' fishermen, is small in proportion to that consumed by these 

 animals. If allowed to increase at the same rate for a few more years, 

 it will be difficult for either Shad or Salmon to escape them, while enter- 

 ing our bay. The fishermen at Vallejo and liio Vista report that they 

 find many of the Salmon to have been torn by the teeth of .these ani- 

 mals. They appear now to serve no useful purpose, other than to grat- 

 ify the curiosit}' of strangers, and we believe it would bo well if the law 

 which now protects them were repealed, and nine tenths of them were 

 allowed to be shot, that their oil might be utilized in the lubrication of 

 machinery. We would recommend that this law be reiDcaled, and, if 

 necessary, again reenacted after nine tenths of them had been destroyed. 



OVER-FISHING. 



The preservation of the fish in the waters of this State is of so much 

 importance that we would advise the appointment of a standing com- 

 mittee by the Legislature, on the subject of the fish and fisheries of 

 California. This committee should take testimony in relation to the 

 different modes of catching fish by nets, traps, etc., and, after informa- 

 tion had been obtained, advise as to the size of the mesh of gill nets, 

 and if any of the present modes of fishing should be restrained or reg- 

 ulated. It has come to the knowledge of your Commissioners that the 

 Chinese, for catching Shrimp (which are dried and exported to China), 

 use a net of a mesh so small that hardly any of the young of the valu- 

 able varieties of our fish escape; and, when it is remembered that the 

 majority of the young of the salt-water fish of the coast seek their food 

 in the shallow waters near the shore, where the stake-nets for Shrimp 

 are placed, and that all of the young fish thus caught are either thrown 

 on the shore to die, or fed to hogs, it is evident that without legisla- 

 tion many varieties of our fish will soon be exhausted. A great many 

 tons of dried Shrimp are annually shipped to China by the Chinese mer- 



