THIKTY-SIXTH BIENNIAL REPORT 47 



ill 1939 it was very satisfactory. Although the results for the present 

 year (1940) are still incomplete, indications point to a good setting 

 of spat. Successful spat setting in this region is almost completely 

 due to the research work conducted, and the constant observation of 

 spawning oysters and temperature and salinity of the water. Through 

 these studies, the industry is given ample opportunity to place the 

 spat collectors in the water at the proper time. 



In addition to the work on native oysters in Humboldt Bay, the 

 Bureau of Marine Fisheries is assisting the oyster industry in the 

 cultivation of Japanese oysters at Drake's Estuary, Tomales Bay, 

 Bodega Bay and ]\Iorro Bay. Most of the Japanese oysters are raised 

 from seed imported from Japan. Seed planting in California has 

 been increased to supply a steadily expanding market for this species 

 —in 1938 a total of 1,200,000 pounds and in 1939, 1,-500,000 pounds 

 were marketed. One of the present activities in the investigation 

 of the Japanese oyster cultivation is an attempt to set up conditions 

 so that this species will spawn and the spat set on collectors in our 

 own waters, to eliminate future necessity of importing seed for grow- 

 ing these oysters. Although the Japanese oysters have successfully 

 spawned under controlled conditions in our waters, to date no actual 

 setting of spat has occurred. 



MARINE SPORT CATCH 



During the past biennium, improvement has been made in the 

 quality and completeness of our marine sport catch records. This is 

 due to a better understanding by the sport fishermen and boat oper- 

 ators of the need for this work. Careful supervision and educational 

 work have produced this result. Sufficient records have now been 

 gathered for the beginning of analysis and a report is in preparation. 

 Preliminary figures have been gathered for the salmon, shad and 

 striped bass sport catch in the bay and river areas. However, there 

 remains much needed improvement in our sport catch records if they 

 are to serve their purpose of giving us a basis for an adequate knowl- 

 edge of changes in abundance and a gauge of fishing intensity. 



The catch by marine anglers is often looked upon as quite sec- 

 ondary to the catch made by commercial fishermen, but for some 

 species the sport catch exceeds the commercial because of the large 

 number of anglers who take advantage of recreational facilities 

 offered by ocean angling. The number of party and charter boats has 

 been increasing and the number of fishermen patronizing anchored 

 barges and piers has not declined. For example, in 1938 the ocean 

 catch made by party boats and barges only, exclusive of other types 

 of angling in the ocean, bays and rivers, was 5,344,000 pounds. The 

 leading species are barracuda with an average annual sport catch of 

 2,340,000 pounds and yellowtail averaging about 900,000 pounds 



annually. 



STATISTICS 



The Laboratory has been the repository for most of the statistics 

 gathered by the Bureau of Marine Fisheries, including detailed 

 catches of commercial fishing boats, boat registrations, licenses sold, 

 and marine angling records. Since 1931 these records have been 

 compiled by the punched card method with electrically operated 



