5 



in number and size it is victor. In the East a six-pounder is a very large 

 specimen; here we take them that avoirdupois eight to ten pounds. It is 

 estimated that more than a million of good sized shad have been taken 

 from the waters of California during the present year. 



AVe note here, for careful consideration, the fact that the yearly actual 

 value of shad to the State is many times greater than all of the money that 

 has been expended by the State " for the restoration and preservation of 

 fish." 



CARP. 



Carp culture since May, 1877, at which time three hundred and forty-five 

 were brought over from Germany to the United States, has been exten- 

 sively and successfully prosecuted in nearly all the States of the American 

 Union and in Her Majesty's Dominions. The progeny of the three hundred 

 and forty-five has run into billions, and the increase continues. Carp has 

 generally been received with great favor, and has in that respect more 

 than equaled the demand for catfish. Carp were planted in California by 

 favor of the United States Commission, December 19, 1879. Here they 

 found congenial homes and favorable water, diet, and climatic conditions, 

 and the family has become as large, if not larger, than that of any species 

 of fresh water fish. 



In 1872, on private account, eight carp of a choice variety were brought 

 into this State from Hamburg, Germany. Their increase was prolific and 

 widely distributed. Up to 1884 there was a strong desire among farmers 

 and landholders to procure carp for stocking natural and artificial ponds 

 and sloughs. Calls were covered with ample supplies, and private pre- 

 serves, ponds, sloughs, swamps, still and sluggish waters, all over the State 

 were filled with them. Since 1884 but few calls have been received. The 

 supply is enormous — market value at times one and one half cents per 

 pound. 



CATFISH. 



The seventy-four catfish imported from the Raritan River in 1874, have 

 increased and multiplied and the increase distributed, until now, we believe 

 there is no county in the State, from Del Norte to San Diego, that has not 

 been supplied with a greater or less number of these fish. They are regu- 

 larly sold in all the markets at the same prices as other abundant fish. 

 They are admirably adapted to the sloughs and warm wafers of the great 

 valleys, and in them have so multiplied as to furnish a large supply of food. 

 The aggregate value of this fish annually sold in the markets of San Fran- 

 cisco and Sacramento more than equals the appropriation annually made 

 by the State for fish culture. Catfish are coming more into favor with citi- 

 zens as food, and by a large class of consumers are preferred to the carp. 

 The planting of these fish was regretted by many and approved by more. 

 They have thriven wonderfully and need no protection. They cannot be 

 exterminated. 



STURGEON. 



In our last biennial report we stated with regret that the catch of the 

 year 1883, of this, one of the best and cheapest food fishes, had fallen short 

 fully fifty per cent below the takes of the previous two or three years, 

 and we attributed the cause to the indiscriminate and criminal slaughter 

 made by Chinamen and other fishermen. Our river patrol has often raided 

 the vandals and measurably stopped their murderous work, and we are 

 permitted now to report, that during the last and present year, the increase 



