\ 1« 



\ 



) LAWS RECOMMENDED. 



The close season .lor salmon should be enlarged. It is now "between 

 the thirtieth day of' August and the first day of October." It should be 

 from the first day of August to the first day of October. 



A law should be passed prohibiting the use of what is called the "Chinese 

 shrimp or bag net." This net does more damage to the fish interest of the 

 State than all other nets and traps combined. 



A law should be passed prohibiting the use of Chinese sturgeon lines at 

 any time, and making the penalty severe for its violation. 



The Commission earnestly recommends legislative remedial action to 

 prevent the destruction of fish by seals and sea lions. 



And further recommend the repealing of the shad close season law. 



And further recommend that the penalties for the violations of fish laws 

 be made uniform, and that fines collected be allotted as follows: one half 

 to the informer, one quarter to the prosecuting District Attorney of the 

 county in which the action is tried, one quarter to the State Board of Fish 

 Commissioners, to be paid to the Treasurer of the Board. 



APPROPRIATION AND EXPENSES. 



The sum of $5,000 per year has heretofore been appropriated "for the 

 restoration and preservation of the fish of the State." This sum was 

 devoted by former Commissioners mostly in the securing and hatching of 

 fish eggs, and in the distribution of young fish. 



Extensively, as heretofore, the work of preservation and restoration has 

 been kept up by the present Board. Since the coming in of the present Com- 

 j mission its work has been necessarily enlarged, and its expenses greatly 

 increased. In August, 1883, a system of police patrol of the rivers and 

 bays was established, and has been annually kept up, and should be 

 ^ continued. In March, 1885, a steam launch became an arm of the police 

 >^ service. The maintenance of the patrol, including the operative expenses 

 of the steamer, has greatly increased the expenditures of the Commission, 

 and the draft thereby occasioned upon the $5,000 fund leaves but little of 

 it for other important uses. 



The efficient and successful management of the State Salmon Hatchery, 

 since its construction in 1885, has devolved upon the Commission. We 

 estimate that the cost of operating it will be about $3,000 a year. This 

 figure, in comparison with the annual expenditure of the United States 

 Commission, of $10,000 per year on the McCloud, we think is reasonable. 

 In order to cover the cost of propagation and replenishment, the police 

 service and steamer, two extensive hatcheries (a salmon and trout), the 

 meetings of the Board, official work, traveling and incidental expenses, 

 the sum of $10,000 a year is required, and should be appropriated. 



SEALS AND SEA LIONS. 



These aquatic animals are a serious detriment to the fish interests of the 

 State. They sit at the entrance of the Golden Gate as royal toll gatherers, 

 and take the lion's share of the schools of the finny tribe, as they pass 

 from the- broad Pacific into the Bay of San Francisco, preparatory to an 

 ascent of our rivers. In the opinion of the Commission, they are great 

 destroyers of the salmon. They appear to be more numerous at Seal Rock, 

 and around the entrance of San Francisco Bay, than in former years, owing, 

 no doubt, to the fact that the fishermen have driven them with their nets 



