18 



ILLEGAL FISHING. 



There is a prevalent opinion throughout the State, that it is the 

 especial duty of the Fish Commissioners to act as local police in 

 each neighborhood and prevent violations of the law in relation to 

 fishing during the close season. Much time is consumed in answer- 

 ing questions on this subject, and informing correspondents by letter 

 that it is the duty of every citizen to see that the law is obeyed. We 

 believe the law which prohibits the catching or having in possession 

 salmon from August first to November first has been more exten- 

 sively violated during the present year than ever before. It is true 

 the fish are not sold openly in the city markets, but we are informed 

 that the fishermen have erected salting establishments and smoke- 

 houses in various by-places on the sloughs between the Sacramento 

 and San Joaquin, where the work of salting and smoking has been 

 prosecuted more extensively than in any previous j^ear. We learned 

 that the canning establishment of Messrs. Emerson Corville & Co., 

 at Collinsville, only made a pretense of ceasing work on the first of 

 August, and that they secretly persisted in violating the law. We 

 caused them to be arrested and fined, upon which they quit work 

 and promised hereafter to obey the law. The canning establishment 

 near Sacramento was also reported as at work during the close sea- 

 son. The proprietors have been indicted by the Grand Jury of Sac- 

 ramento, and will be fined, if found guilty, during the next term of 

 Court. It is well known that salmon, during the spawning season, 

 are unfit for food. The fish canned, salted, or smoked at this period, 

 if consumed or sold, will have the effect of giving the Sacramento sal- 

 mon a bad reputation in the market. For this reason the " canners" 

 on the Columbia River cease work on the first of August in their 

 own interest, and without any requirement of law. It is useless for 

 the State to hatch fish and turn them into the river if there isno 

 time in the year when they are permitted to reach their spawning 

 grounds for purposes of reproduction. It would seem that when the 

 State expends money in filling the river with valuable fish for the 

 benefit of the public, and especially for the benefit of fishermen, 

 that there should be sufficient intelligence and public spirit among 

 local officers and the fishermen themselves to see the law obeyed and 

 give the fish an opportunity to keep up the supply. If the Commis- 

 sioners are to expend the appropriation in prosecuting violations of 

 the law there will be no money to pay for the hatching of additional 

 fish. Many of the fishermen acknowledge the Justice and ultimate 

 benefit of an observance of the law, and obey it, but very properly 

 complain that their work ceases, while those who violate it reap a 

 greater benefit. 



The following extracts from a letter received by the Commissioners 

 from a fisherman who has followed the business of catching salmon 

 on the Sacramento and San Joaquin for the San Francisco market 

 during twenty years, will illustrate that, at least, the more intelligent 

 and thoughtful of these men acknowledge the necessity of an observ- 

 ance of the law. His letter also gives facts of importance as to the 

 habits of the Sacramento salmon. Writing from Rio Vista, August 

 17th, 1877, he says: "I understand the 'cannery' has shut down, 

 but the greed for salmon is so great, I would not trust them without 

 watching. As to the fishermen, they will be salting them all along 

 the banks of the Sacramento and Lower San Joaquin (as far up as 



