CALIFORNIA FISH AND GAME 



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summer and fall months) is probably an average of 15 octopi a week 

 from a set of 10 traps. The number of deliveries per week and the 

 amounts delivered fluctuate a great deal. On one occasion, during the 

 last summer, 400 pounds of octopi averaging 25 pounds apiece were 

 brought in by a fisherman after one trip. The octopi delivered at 

 Monterey average 20 to 30 pounds each. A record specimen weighed 

 90 pounds. During the winter months, few octopi are delivered because 

 of the unsettled water conditions along the coast. The price paid 

 fishermen may range from 5 cents a pound in the summer to 15 cents 

 a pound in the winter, depending upon abundance. 



The reason more fishermen do not take up octopus fishing is that 

 a few fishermen can supply the demand. Furthermore, the return 

 per unit of gear is slight and a set of 10 to 12 traps, plus ropes, anchors, 

 etc., costs about $100. A string of traps may be easily lost when set 

 off an open coast, especially in times of rough water. 



Fig. 5. A typical jig boat at Monterey. This boat is about 30 feet long and has a 

 12-horsepower gasoline engine. Octopus fishing is carried on by a very few 

 fishermen, in connection with other market fishing. Note octopus trap, similar 

 to one pictured In Fig. 4, being repaired on deck. Photo by J. B. Phillips, May, 

 1933. 



As octopus traps are operated in conjunction with hand line and 

 similar market fishing, the jig type of boat is used in the operations. 

 The jig boats at Monterey are 25 to 35 feet long and have gas engines 

 of 8 to 16 horsepower. Fig. 5 shows a typical type of boat with a 

 trap being repaired on deck. 



METHODS OF CAPTURE IN OTHER COUNTRIES 



Bartsch (1931) has published some interesting accounts of methods 

 that other people use in capturing octopus. The simplest method of 

 capture, according to him, is probably that used by Filipinos. On 

 a dark night, a band of Filipinos wearing only "G-strings," form a 

 ceremonial procession to the sea. In one hand they bear lighted torches 

 and in the other, spears. The light of the torches penetrates the shallow 

 water and reveals the luckless octopus, which apparently forsakes the 



