REPORT OF STATE BOARD OF FISH COMMISSIONERS. 7 



Mr. W. A. Wilcox, of the U. S. Commission of Fish and Fisheries, in 



his treatise entitled "The Fisheries of the Pacific Coast," says: 



"The growth of the industry of late years has been marked, and the near futtire will 

 doubtless witness an advance in the relative position, of California at the expense of 

 several of the east-coast States. Considering the entire country, the rank of California 

 as a fishing State is six; in the value of its products it is surpassed only by Massa- 

 chusetts, Maryland, New York, New Jersey, and Virginia." (p. 147.) 



We take the following totals from a table prepared by him, which 

 show the products of the fisheries of California: 



Pounds. Value. 



1889 - - 53,505,055 $2,465,317 



1890 -. 53,330,194 2,592,826 



1891..- - 52,483,906 3,031,430 



1892 .- - 57,838,466 3,022,991 



That the fisheries of the State are constantly developing along broader 

 lines is beyond question, and the fishermen and people generally are 

 coming to appreciate the value of fostering this industry, and are urging 

 the Commission to extend its investigation and its protecting power to 

 branches which they never before deemed in need of protection, because 

 of the seemingly limitless store from which the supply was being drawn. 



If at any time there has been a question as to the needs and results 

 of the artificial propagation of both fresh and salt water fishes, that time 

 has passed, for it is no longer a supposition but an established fact that 

 this work makes enormous returns for the money expended. The results 

 of this work are everywhere apparent, and nowhere more so than in 

 California, and the people generally are alive to the necessity and demand 

 for it. 



Dr. H. M. Smith, of the U. S. Commission of Fish and Fisheries, says, 

 in his " Notes on a Reconnoissance of the Fisheries of the Pacific Coast 

 of the United States in 1894": 



" In no other region in the United States are the people more generally impressed with 

 the beneficial results of artificial propagation and more ready to aid and approve any 

 fish-cultural measures that are properly recommended. While the results of salmon 

 culture have in some places been marked and are readily acknowledged by fishermen 

 and others, this alone is not suflicient to account for the widespread advocacy of fish 

 culture which exists among all classes and in all parts of the Pacific Coast. We must 

 look further for the cause. There seems little reason to doubt that to the marvelous 

 success of shad and striped bass acclimatization on the west coast must be attributed the 

 firm belief in fish-cultural work that pervades all localities in which fish is an article of 

 food or an object of capture. One or both of these new species are well known in almost 

 every Pacific Coast settlement, and they are an enduring testimony to the influence of 

 man over fish production." (p. 226.) 



It has been the purpose of this Board to increase the pro- 

 SALMON. ductiveness of the salmon fishery, which is our most im- 

 portant branch. Aided by the extended close season granted 

 by the last Legislature, we were enabled to plant in our waters a greater 

 number of young fish than ever before. The following table, showing 



