12 



nomenclature, and to call them by the good old Saxon or provincial 

 names by which they have been known to our fishermen and people. 



NOTES BY THE COMMISSIONERS. 



The fish interest is on the increase all along the line, from the Ore- 

 gon Coast to the line of Mexico, every bay having its well established 

 fisheries, which send the greater proportion of their catch to San 

 Francisco, where they find a ready market. 



Most of the salmon which are exhibited for sale in the months of 

 November, December, and January, are taken up the coast at Point 

 Arenas, Little River, Eel River, Bolinas, and Rogue River. The 

 species consists of what is known as the coast or steel-head. There 

 are a few of the salmon taken at other points that are indigenous to 

 the waters of the Sacramento River. 



We would also respectfully state that when the present Commis- 

 sioners were appointed they were at a loss to know where to commence, 

 as the head of the old Commission, Hon. B. B. Redding, died a few 

 months before, and the only one left was the Hon. S. R. Throckmorton, 

 who was at the time in very poor health; and he also died in a month 

 or so after our apijointment, leaving us without any one to confer 

 with who had any knowledge of what was to be done or where to 

 commence. We entered upon our duty as strangers to the business, 

 and it may have cost more to carry on the needed work than it did 

 our predecessors, but when taking into consideration the amount of 

 work done by the present Commission, we confidently believe that 

 the people of this State will approve of our action and. endeavors to 

 secure and advance its fish industry. 



The present Commissioners have used earnest endeavors to protect 

 the fish interest from the unlawful raids made by unprincipled fisher- 

 men during the close season, by employing and placing a patrol on 

 the various bays and watercourses of this State, which action has 

 resulted, in great benefit. During the month of August, 1883, the 

 Commission caused the arrest of thirty-six violators of the fish laws, 

 chiefly Greeks and Italians; all were convicted and fined. During 

 the months of September and October, 1883, forty-eight Chinese were 

 arrested for violating the provisions of Section 636 of the Penal Code, 

 by fishing with set-nets, and in nearly all cases convictions were 

 obtained. The Legislature should pass a very stringent law prohibit- 

 ing the use of set-nets, whether for catching of shrimp or fish; shrimp 

 nets especially are more destructive to the young of all varieties of 

 fish than any other nets used, from the fact that while the fishermen, 

 who are fishing for the market, use nets that will catch nothing but 

 marketable fish, on the other hand, those parties who catch shrimps 

 have their nets made of so small sized mesh that it is impossible for 

 the young of any kind to escape therefrom, thereby catching and 

 destroying immense numbers. The only way to avoid the evil is to 

 stop the catching of shrimp except by the use of proper seines. If the 

 mode adopted by the Chinese is allowed to be continued, in a few 

 years they will have the Bay of San Francisco entirely drained of all 

 kinds of food fish. The number of small fish, shrimp, etc., so taken 

 by the Chinese, and by illicit fishing, amounts to thousands of tons 

 per year. The distribution of fish, in 1883, was not as large as in 

 former years, on account of the fact that the United States Commis- 

 sioners did not send to the State of California any kinds of fish that 



