PORTY-FIRST lilKWlAF, HKI'OUT 73 



County is high with 32 percent of the resich-nts li;,\ in- li.nisrs. h.is.'d 

 on the 1950 census. 



In the 20 to 25 percent ^^nnip arr other inoinitain eoiinti.-s such as 

 Siskiyou, Del Norte, Humboldt. Inyo. Plumas, MhUh-, and Lassen. Most 

 other rural counties fall in the 10 to 15 percent group. The lowest per- 

 centages of license buyers are found in the metropolitan couuties of San 

 Francisco and Los Angeles, with only (i to 7 percent buyiuL' licenses. 

 All in all, about 10 percent of Californians now buy licenses and this 

 compares favorably with other poimluus states where fishing is a favorite 

 recreation. 



The annual production of trout has changed very little in numbei-s 

 in the last few years. In 1949, 18,791,()()0 trout weighiiig 4ss.()()() ponnds 

 were planted, which is about the total weight that can hr a. liirwd with 

 present facilities. Of these trout 2.424.000 were of catclial>le si/e running 

 from 4 to 10 to the pound. As was pointed out in a recent publii-atioir. 

 although 83 percent of these larger fish are planted in the s(.uthern part 

 of the State, the catch and the number of trout anglers is about (M|ually 

 divided between the two sections of the State and the total numl)er of 

 trout taken, both wild and planted, is about equal north and south. The 

 new ponds and hatcheries now being constructed will greatly increase 

 the number of catchable trout and tlie areas in wiiich they can be dis- 

 tributed. 



The number of fish rescued was considerably l(>ss than in years gone 

 by. There are no longer great numbers of catfisli and sutdish in receding 

 waters in the Central Valleys. In part becau.se of dry years an«l in |)art 

 because of water control at Shasta and Friant dams there are fewer 

 seasonal waters and fewer resulting fish to he i-escued. It is very doubtful 

 whether the rescue of these prolific species t'oi- |)Iaiiting in waters already 

 carrying their capacity load was a paj'iii^ pi(i|Misiti(>n anyway. In South- 

 ern California the greatest amoinit of rescue salvage and transfer of 

 warm-water fish is required in order to supply stock for ponds and new 

 and transitory lakes. 



REPORT OF HATCHERY OPERATIONS 



With hatcheries and residential ImiMings sutTering considerable 



depreciation during the previous biennitnn, il I ane- ap|)areni that a 



large amount of repair and new consti-iiction must br done in order to 

 keep existing facilities in operation and to add new hati-hery facilities 

 necessary to cope with the ever-increasing number of anglers in Cali- 

 fornia. It was hoped that with the enactment (d' the Wildlife ( 'onservn- 

 tion Act in 1947 and the subsequent allocation by that board of :{;2.ls7.2n<l 

 for fish hatchery projects that a so\ind planned hatchery expansion and 

 rehabilitation program could he nndertaken. This was only partly tin- 

 case, mainly because the Division of Kish and (;;inie does not have it.s 

 own engineering staff and must rely upon the Department of Public 

 Works, Division of Architecture, for its engin<'ering .scrvic.-s. When re- 

 quest was first made to the Division of Architecture for ongineering 

 assistance it was found that the division was cornpletely occupied with 

 work for other state agencies having a higher i)riority. It was not until 

 the middle of 1950 that the Division of Architecture could undertake our 

 first fish hatchery projects. 



