8 REPORT OF STATE BOARD OF FISH COMMISSIONERS. 



When the vast extent of territory included within this State is consid- 

 ered, it can be readily understood that the accomplishment of this 

 object is a very difficult one, and yet without it the law^ would be inoper- 

 ative and useless. 



We beg to call your attention to the expense bills which are hereto 

 attached, and particularly to those items thereof which were incurred 

 in the early work of the Commission in the matter of the collection of 

 licenses. When it is considered that that work was absolutely neces- 

 sary for the purpose of establishing a correct foundation and system 

 for the more perfect collection of licenses, and when the work accom- 

 plished at that time is compared with the results as shown by the reports 

 of the License Collector for the year 1890, there can be but one conclu- 

 sion, and that is that the money has been well expended. The Com- 

 mission is prepared at the present time to turn over to its successors a 

 fairly complete list of all individuals and sets of individuals who are 

 engaged in the avocation of fishing with boat and net in the waters of 

 this State, with the exception of the extreme southern portion of the 

 State, which, from lack of means, we have not been able to canvass. 

 As will be seen from the amount of moneys which have been collected 

 from this source, the collection of licenses is a very important matter to 

 the Commission. We feel confident in stating that we have inaugurated 

 the proper system for the accomplishment of the end which was in- 

 tended, and that if this system is followed out for some length of time, 

 the objects of the law will have been fully accomplished, and the funds 

 of the Commission very materially increased. In this connection it is 

 proper for us to call 3'our attention to the fact that the fishing industry 

 in this State has materially decreased in certain localities within the 

 past two years, and this is especially so in the Sacramento and San 

 Joaquin Rivers, although, as hereinafter shown, the salmon- canning 

 industry has revived, owing to the unusually large run of salmon this 

 year. 



The collection of licenses from fishermen is a ver}^ difficult undertak- 

 inar, for the reason that almost the entire fish industrv of this State is 

 carried on and conducted by foreigners, principally by Italians, Greeks, 

 Slavonians, and Chinese, half of whom neither understand nor speak 

 the English language. With the system already established, and which 

 we intend to more fully perfect, we feel confident in saying tliat our next 

 report will show a very material increase in the funds of the Commission 

 from this source. 



THE SALMON RUN. 



An extraordinary increase in the salmon run has been noticed in the 

 Sacramento River this year, and to such an unusual extent that the 

 several canning establishments along that river, which have remained 

 closed for some time past, have reopened and are doing a thriving busi- 

 ness. It is difficult to ascribe the proper cause for this unusual run. 

 Whether it is the actual result of the several millions of young salmon 

 deposited by the Commission in the headwaters of the Sacramento and 

 the surrounding streams within the last six years or not, we cannot say. 

 It is generally supposed that the salmon returns from the sea, as near 

 as possible to the headwaters, and, in fact, to the exact locality where 

 it was hatched. On the other hand, the run of the present season is out 

 of all proportion to that of any other preceding year within the last 



