EEPORT OF STATE BOARD OF FISH COMMISSIONERS 25 



THE SALMON LAW. 



Since our last report on the salmon industry, made two years ago, 

 it is gratifying to be able to show still greater results from our system 

 of artificial propagation, supplemented by the important and far- 

 reaching effect of the Saturday and Sunday close season. It is an 

 acknowledged fact that the runs of salmon in the Sacramento and 

 San Joaquin rivers, and their tributaries, are fully restored. This is 

 corroborated by the testimony of all the intelligent salmon fishermen, 

 some of whom have been operating at the same point for upwards of 

 thirty years, and who claim that there are more salmon in our rivers 

 to-day than there were thirty years ago, when the limited demands on 

 our streams were made principally by the Indians and a few wild 

 beasts. 



We believe that when the condition of an industry has reached the 

 point where a concession to the people can be safely made, we should 

 be the first to recognize and recommend it. We would therefore respect- 

 fully recommend that the beginning of the general close season for 

 taking salmon be changed from the 10th to the 15th of September, and 

 remain closed until the 20th of October, but that no change be made in 

 the existing law referring to the season above tide water. 



Close observation of the matter for the past four years indicates 

 strongly that the fall run of salmon is appearing later. For the past 

 three years the run has not put in appearance on the rivers until about 

 the 25th of August, leaving but a very short time for the fishermen to 

 operate, when it is considered that the Saturday and Sunday law still 

 further reduces the time. This has had the effect of closing down the 

 canneries and cold-storage plants before the run had reached its height, 

 which accounts for a slight decrease in the pack of salmon during the 

 past two seasons, as the bulk of the fish were passing the fishing grounds 

 protected by the close season. 



As the sole purpose of the close season is to permit the fish to reach 

 the egg-collecting stations, in order that a sufficient number of eggs can 

 be taken and hatched to maintain the supply, we believe that the runs 

 have increased to such an extent that we can with perfect safety allow 

 a greater number to be taken for food, and still secure a sufficient number 

 of eggs to fill our hatcheries. 



The praise that has been bestowed by the Bureau of Fisheries at 

 Washington on the record made in salmon culture in this State is most 

 gratifying. Dr. David Starr Jordan, of Stanford University, an eminent 

 authority, has pronounced our work in that particular the finest example 

 in the United States. We are also privileged to quote the opinion of 

 Mr. L. F. Ayson, Fisheries Commissioner of New Zealand, who has been 

 engaged in practical fish cultural work for upwards of thirty years, in 



