12 



nets. Greeks and Italians being a large class of the fishermen, use all 

 kinds of nets and seines, and take most of the herring, smelt, flounder, 

 tomcod, rock cod, sardines, barracuda, and sea bass. Chinese fishermen 

 catch most of the shrimp, sturgeon, crabs, and clams. 



CHINESE SPOLIATIONS. 



We learn from the reports of the United States Treasury Department that 

 our export trade with China for the 3^ear ending June 30, 1885, amounted 

 to $6,396,506. Evidently our importations are greatly in excess, probably 

 as three is to one, over our exports. Be this as it may, California exporta- 

 tions bring no returns, except such trifling amounts as may be paid to 

 shippers and carriers. The export trade from San Francisco is largely in 

 the shape of dried and salted fish, and dried shrimps and shrimp shells. 

 These are taken from our waters by Chinese using criminal methods, and in 

 violation of our laws and as free of cost to them as if they were " to [our] 

 the manor born." These shipments of our unmatured fish in China are 

 annually Avorth over $3,000,000. Where comes in our compensation ? 



Deputy Fish Commissioner W. C. Jones, in letter of March 16, 1886, refer- 

 ring to the destruction of small fish by Chinamen, says : " I have seen on 

 many occasions a vessel ladened with shrimps and small fish all from one 

 camp, the vessel carrying one hundred and twenty-five tons. I have visited 

 some forty camps during the last two and a half years, and have heard of 

 the location of many others on San Pablo and San Francisco Bays. To 

 give you a better idea, I have arrested as high as five junks at a time, and 

 in each of them would be at least one ton of small fish and shrimps in 

 each junk every six hours or every tide. I made an effort last Fall to get 

 something like an estimate of the number of Chinese engaged in the fish 

 traffic — not including those directly engaged in San Francisco, but merely 

 those catching fish and preparing them for shipment — and there are 

 between fifteen hundred and two thousand. Five to six are required to 

 manage one junk and attend to the drying beds. Their nets are made 

 stationary and it requires about one hour to haul them and dump the 

 catch in the boat ; that leaves them about five hours to assort, spread them 

 out, and take care of those sufficiently dried. On one occasion, last Sum- 

 mer, the boss Chinaman told me that the shrimp and fish in a junk was 

 worth about twenty dollars when prepared for market. By the facts above 

 stated, you can see that the matter has been underestimated." 



In letter to one of our Representatives in Congress, dated March 9, 

 1886, our Commission, in hopes of obtaining Congressional relief, presented 

 this grievance and stated that " the people of California most earnestly 

 demand that a law shall be passed at the present session of Congress that 

 will, in effect, prohibit the exportation of shrimp and young fish by Chi- 

 nese to China. If such a law be passed our citizens will have (and they 

 are entitled to have) the food of the waters for themselves, and a most 

 destructive vandal occupation will cease. The oft-repeated and serious 

 complaint that fish food is becoming scarce in California furnishes a pow- 

 erful reason why the Chinese exhaustion should cease, and the cause of 

 the complaint be removed." 



The Commission received words of encouragement but nothing more. 

 The Commission will use its police power to remedy the evil, and to enforce 

 obedience to our fish laws. 



