6 REPORT OF STATE BOARD OF FISH COMMISSIONERS. 



The territory of the State of California is so large in area, and the 

 number and variety of its streams and waters, and diversity of game, so 

 greatly in excess of those of any other State of the Union, and in fact of 

 any number of States, that it is hard to appreciate the volume of work 

 that the Commissioners and their deputies are called upon to perform. 



The two chief divisions of our labors are, respectively, the Patrol and 

 the Hatchery Departments. Under the former is included the main- 

 tenance of the fish and game laws. For this purpose, under the present 

 law, there is an annual appropriation of $5,000. AVith this amount at 

 hand we are supposed to engage competent deputies to patrol the various 

 wharves and fish markets of San Francisco and the other large cities of 

 the State; to watch all of the avenues of ingress, and prevent the impor- 

 tation of certain fish and game when out of season; to keep a vigilant 

 eye on the 250 miles of the bay lines of San Francisco and confluent 

 bays and rivers, and to make continuous trips from one end of the State 

 to the other, and throughout the length and circumference of all of its 

 streams and waters, for similar purposes. 



THE PATROL DEPARTMENT. 



It is impossible, with the small appropriation allowed us for this 

 department, to properly carry out that portion of the law Avhich makes 

 it the duty of the Commission to protect and preserve the fish and game 

 in this State. It is hardly necessary to give any reasons for this, for 

 they must be apparent to every one who will give the matter one 

 moment's thought. If we undertook to patrol the State in detail, the 

 actual traveling expenses of the deputies alone would exhaust the fund. 

 Appreciating this, the Commission has devoted almost its entire atten- 

 tion to what it conceived would produce the best results, namely: 



Fir-'it — The prevention from sale in the markets of San Francisco of 

 fish and game at the time when it is unlawful to sell the same. 



Second — The prevention of illegal fishing in the bay of San Francisco, 

 especially in the catching of the young of fish. 



Third — The prevention of illegal fishing in the Sacramento River. 



Fourth — The prevention of dumping sawdust and other deleterious 

 substances into the various rivers and streams of the State. 



Fifth — The requiring of the construction and maintenance of fish 

 ladders. 



What we have been able to accomplish in this direction will be shown 

 in detail by the reports of our deputies and excerpts therefrom, which 

 are attached to and made a part of this biennial report. 



It requires a particular fitness to be a competent deputy in this 

 department. The patrolmen are called upon to undergo all kinds of 

 hardships, to be exposed to wet weather at all times of the day and 

 night, and to come in contact with some of the most brutal and irre- 

 sponsible classes of men. The position demands shrewdness, bravery, 

 and executive ability of high order, besides a thorough familiarity with 

 the topography of our State. In order to properly fulfill the work of 

 this department and to employ a sufficient number of competent men, 

 there should be an annual appropriation of at least $20,000, to be used 

 entirely in this division of the labors of the Commission. Besides the 

 patrol work and arrest of violators of the fish and game laws, there fol- 

 lows an immense amount of labor in the trial and conviction of the 



