66 REPORT OF STATE BOARD OF FISH COMMISSIONERS. 



WHY SALMON ARE SCARCE. 



LETTER FROM DR. II. W. HARKNESS, PRESIDENT OF THE CALIFORNIA 



ACADEMY OF SCIENCES. 



Upon reexamining the subject, with the view of determining the 

 cause for the scarcity of sahnon in our rivers, we find that the principal 

 agent engaged in their destruction is man. 



Man accomplishes this in various ways — by the fouling of the rivers 

 by manufactories, by dams or other obstructions, and chiefly by seine 

 fishing. 



The modern appliances are so perfect, and the pursuit of fish so 

 active and persistent, that we are convinced that should the fishermen 

 comply with the law in every particular, even then the salmon would 

 disappear altogether from our waters; but when we take into considera- 

 tion the fact that all unfair means are resorted to for the purpose of 

 increasing the catch, we are no longer at a loss to account for their 

 scarcity. 



If our fishermen would but pay a decent respect to the laws, and 

 furthermore would capture only a sufficiency for the supply of the 

 market with fresh salmon, our rivers, with assistance from the State in 

 the way of restocking at intervals, might still continue to be productive 

 for an indefinite period. 



There is one source of waste, as we look upon it, however, which should 

 be prevented by the authorities, viz.: the canning interest. From time 

 to time the Government has expended large sums of money for the 

 purpose of stocking our rivers with salmon. This is the act of a pater- 

 nal government with the sole idea, as we view it, of furnishing to all of 

 the inhabitants of the State, so far as it is possible to do so, an oppor- 

 tunity for supplying the table with a cheap, nutritive article of food. 



The taxpayers at large are called upon to pay the cost, and all are 

 alike to share in the benefit. Let us examine for a moment, to see if 

 there is a fair distribution of the results of this outlay. If, as has been 

 previously stated, after the stocking of the rivers, fishing was conducted 

 in accordance Avith the laws (fishing being prohibited during certain 

 davs, in order that a percentage of the breeding fish might escape); 

 also, that the close season should be strictly observed, and further, that 

 the exportation of fish should cease under these conditions, we believe 

 that our rivers would, for an indefinite period, continue to furnish 

 salmon in quantity sufficient to meet the home demand. 



No sooner, however, does the salmon appear in tolerable abundance 

 than the canner begins his work. Either by hiring boats and fisher- 

 men himself, or by offering tempting rewards to the fisherman for his 

 catch, he is enabled to cover the river with boats in such numbers as to 

 capture a large proportion of the product of the stream before they can 

 pass his establishment. 



If the fish so captured from the Government preserves were distrib- 

 uted as canned provisions among our people, there would be some slight 



