u 



chants of San Francisco. There must be several hundred Chinese fish- 

 ermen engaged in fishing for {Shrimp in the Bay of San Francisco, for 

 that market. When it is remembered that man}' of our most valuable 

 varieties of sea fish come into the hay seeking for Shrimp as their nat- 

 ural food, it is a question whether unrestrained and unregulated fishing 

 for this crustacean will not, in time, seriously affect the fisheries of the 

 bay and harbor. 



Under the law, as it at present exists, in relation to Trout, Indians are 

 unrestrained in their mode of catching them. Taking advantage of this, 

 white men, for purposes of gain, employ Indians to catch Trout from the 

 various mountain streams with grab-hooks, baskets, and all the other 

 methods which ingenuity' has devised for the trapping and catching of 

 fish, without regard to the season. Legislation should be had lo pre- 

 vent the Indians from taking fish, except in the manner to which they 

 were accustomed before the advent of white men. 



FISHWAYS. 



"We have adopted a plan for a fish ladder, and caused the same to be 

 lithographed, and distributed copies to all persons who were erecting 

 dams on streams containing fish. Those that have been erected work 

 satisfactorily, and we continue to furnish plans to all who may ask 

 them. So far, we believe, all parties who have been notified to con- 

 struct fishways have done so. 



OBSERVANCE OF THE FISH LAWS. 



The duties of your Commissioners involve a vast amount of corre- 

 spondence — especially with people who see some violation of the laws 

 for the preservation offish. We desire to call attention to tlie fact that 

 it is not, especially, the duty of the Fish Commissioners to see the laws 

 observed, but it is also the duty of every citizen; and if, when persons 

 Bee a violation of the law, they will notify the District Attornej' of the 

 county, giving him the information and the facts, and informing him 

 where the witnesses can be found, he will prosecute without waiting for 

 a request from the Commissioners. 



SAWDUST. 



At one time Salmon were quite numerous in the American, Yuba, and 

 Feather Eivers. lu eighteen hundred aud fifty and eighteen hundred 

 and fifty one, large quantities were taken by the miners and by Indians 

 at Salmon Falls, on the American Eiver, as far up as Downieville on the 

 Tuba, and at various points on the Feather Eiver. No Salmon visit 

 these streams at the present time. This is not because of the earthy 

 matter from mining held in suspension in the water of these rivers, for 

 the Salmon pass readily through the lower part of the Sacramento 

 Eiver, which is as muddy as any of these streams, but because the 

 deposit from mining covered the gravel beds where the fish spawn. It 

 seems to be necessary for Salmon eggs to mature and hatch out the 

 young fish, that they should be deposited in beds of clean gravel over 

 which pure water is passing. 



The Salmon readily go through muddy water to reach their spawning 

 beds, but there must be no mud or sediment where their eggs are laid. 

 The Salmon certainly passed up these streams for a few years after ex- 



