CALIFORNIA FISH AND GAME 43 



by Thomas Ashworth, who came into possession of them in eighteen hundred and 

 fifty-two. They were in an exhausted condition. Mr. Ashworth had good* fish ways 

 built over the dams, of which there was one at the head of the tide; had fishing 

 restricted and protection given to the fish on their breeding grounds. What success 

 attended his efforts is shown by the annual catch as exhibited in the following table : 



fear Salmon 



Eighteen hundred and fifty-three 1,603 



Eighteen hundred and fifty-four 3.15S 



Eighteen hundred and fifty-five 5,540 



Eighteen hundred and fifty-six 5,371 



Eighteen, hundred and fifty-seven 4,857 



Eighteen 'hundred and fifty-eight 9.03!) 



Eighteen hundred and fifty-nine 9.240 



Eighteen hundred and sixty 3.177 



Eighteen hundred and sixty-one 11,051 



Eighteen hundred and sixty-two 15,43] 



Eighteen hundred and sixty-three 17. 995 



, Eighteen hundred and sixty-four 20.-112 



"Thus the produce of this fishery rose in twelve years from one thousand six 

 hundred and three to twenty thousand five hundred and twelve, and this in spite of 

 a dam at the head of the tide, where five-sixths of all the water is used by mills and 

 canals, only the one hundred and sixtieth part running through the fish way, where 

 all the salmon must pass; in spite of civilization, in spite of the disappearance of 

 forests and the cultivation of land. The fish way through which pass all the salmon 

 that ascend this river is supplied with water I>y a gate two feet square, and through 

 this aperture forty thousand salmon are estimated to have passed in one year." 



The law, so far as it relates to fish ladders, appears to operate satisfactorily. 

 Thus far all mill owners on the Truckee and its tributaries, whose dams obstruct 

 the passage of fish, have, with om- exception, constructed fish ways. The Commis- 

 sioners have furnished many mill owners with plans for the construction of fish ways. 

 From our experience during the past two years, it would seem that as a rule the 

 mill owners, with but few exceptions, are a body of intelligent men, who only require 

 to have made clear to them the fact that the construction of fish ways does not 

 interfere with their business, while it adds to the public good, to induce them to 

 place fish ways over their dams. 



SALMON 



The salmon is the most important visitor to our rivers. It has appropriately 

 been called the "king of fish." The richness of its flesh, its large size, the certainty 

 of its annual return from the ocean, the rapidity with which, under favorable condi- 

 tions, it is multiplied, all render it an important article of human food. It has 

 probably been the chief source of subsistence to more people than any other fish. 

 The question as to whether the number of salmon is gradually decreasing in the 

 Sacramento and San Joaquin Rivers seems difficult to be answered. Some of the 

 fishermen contend that it is, and others point to the catch of eighteen hundred and 

 seventy in proof that it is not. There are no fish weirs to trap them, and but few 

 dams on the tributaries of these streams to prevent them from reaching their spawn- 

 ing beds. The weight of testimony is on the side of those who believe the quantity 

 to be decreasing ; and the most intelligent of the fishermen are so firmly convinced 

 of the fact that they ask that a law be passed and enforced to prevent, for a certain 

 period, the catching of fish while they are filled with ripe spawn. But there is no 

 concurrence as to when this "close time" should be. The fishermen in one part of 

 the river say it should be at one time, and the fishermen in other parts say it should 

 be at others. When the great army is passing by Rio Vista, it would be, in the 

 opinion of the fishermen of Rio Vista, a proper season for a close time at Sacramento 

 and Tehama ; and when this army has reached Sacramento, it would, in the opinion 

 of the Sacramento fishermen, be a proper season for a close time at Rio Vista and 

 Tehama. What would be just to all the fishermen, and give the next generation a 

 chance to eat this delicious food, would be to prohibit, by strict law, rigidly enforced, 



