CALIFORNIA FISH AND GAME 159 



part of all sardine fishermen, the price Avas set at $7 per ton. All 

 plants in the State operated and two or three new ones started up, 

 so that all told the season has been a very satisfactory one to both 

 the fishermen and the canners. 



The increase in the amount of sardines caught this season does 

 not mean that sardines are becoming more abundant. The fact is 

 that the sardines were less abundant this season and the increased 

 catch was made by increasing the fishing effort. Many more and 

 larger boats are now fishing than in the past and the fishermen are 

 working harder and longer with this increased equipment to make 

 their catches. That the increase of the present season's catch over 

 the past season is due to a greater fishing effort is well illustrated 

 by the operations of the two largest of the floating reduction plants 

 operating off the California coast. During the present season the 

 weather conditions were better and the fishermen and the two plants 

 were more experienced but, with a 56 per cent increase in the number 

 of large purse seine boats, they were able to increase their catch 

 but 21 per cent. This means that sardines were not so abundant this 

 season as last. During the present season the average catch per haul 

 of the net was only half that of last season. 



This decrease in the sardine supply was expected and predicted 

 at the opening of the present season. The following communication 

 from the State Fisheries Laboratory, dated August 29, 1933, predict- 

 ing conditions to be expected during this sardine season, was dis- 

 tributed to the members of the sardine industry. 



During the past year various members of the laboratory staff have formulated 

 predictions about the 19.33—1934 sardine season. As the season is now opening, we 

 wish again to call your attention to the possibilities for the coming season. 



In discussing the California sardine fishery, it is necessary to distinguish 

 between the fall and winter fisheries, and our predictions are made on this basis. 

 By fall fisheiy we mean at Monterey and San Francisco the fishing carried on from 

 August through November, and at San Pedro fishing in November and December. 

 The winter fishery includes December, Januai-y and February at San Francisco 

 and Monterey, and January, Februai-y and March at San Pedro. 



In the 1933-1934 season we expect that fall fish in Monterey Bay will be 

 scarce and lai*ge in size; at San Pedro fall fish Avill probably be fairly abundant 

 and of small size. In all localities the winter fish will be less numerous than in the 

 immediatey preceding winters and of unusually large size. 



In December, 1932, we pointed out that in the past four years only two rela- 

 tively abundant year classes have entered the California sardine fishei'y. These 

 year classes have supplied the major portion of the saixlines taken in the fall months 

 during these past four seasons. In the winter months the fishery has been main- 

 tained by older fish which at the present time (August, 1933) have largely dis- 

 appeared from the fishery because of intensive fishing and natural mortality. 



On the bases of these facts, in Februai-y, 1933, tentative predictions were 

 made for the 1933-1934 sardine season. After the close of the 1932-1933 season 

 and after the spring conditions at San Diego were determined, final predictions for 

 the coming season were forwarded to you in July, 1933. 



No abundant group of sardines has entered the fishery since 1930. As the 

 sardine contributes materially to the commercial catch only up to its seventh year, 

 the year classes which entered previous to 1929 no longer play an important role 

 in the fishery. The year classes which entered the fishery in the fall of 1929 and 

 1930 supplied the bulk of the sardines in the 1932-1933 season and played an 

 important role in the fisheries for the previous three seasons. It is clear that the 

 sardine fishery is and has been largely dependent uixtn the year classes which 

 entered the fishei-y in 1929 and 1930. In the coming season, 1933-1934, the industry 



