REPORT OF STATE BOARD OF FISH COMMISSIONERS 41 



To compensate for the enormous drain that is made on the supply of 

 these fishes, and yet permit the handling of them at all seasons of the 

 year, and encouraged by the remarkable success we have achieved in 

 the work of artificial propagation of salmon and trout, we seriously con- 

 sidered the advisability of establishing a striped bass hatchery. Our 

 funds being insufficient to meet the demand such an establishment 

 would impose on them, the subject was taken up with the authorities of 

 the U. 8. Bureau of Fisheries at Washington, D. C, and with such suc- 

 cess thai instructions were issued to Captain <<. II. Lambson, superin- 

 tendent «>f the B;iir<i Hatchery, to confer with this board with a view to 

 locating a suitable Bite to undertake the work of artificial propagation. 

 The ,-triped bass hatcheries operated by the Federal bureau of Fisheries 

 at Weldon, North Carolina, show that a three-pound fish has produced 

 14,000 eggs, while a fifty-pound striped bass has yielded 3, '220,000 eggs. 



1 aptain Lambson, in company with our Chief Deputy, made an 

 extended trip through those sections from which the largest number of 

 spawning fish are shipped to market. Several points near the mouth 

 of the San Joaquin and Sacramento rivers were inspected, and Bouldin 

 Island in San Joaquin County has been d a- the best point at 



which to establish an experiment Btation. In the month of May the 

 -pawning fish are captured there in large numbers. From intelligent 

 fishermen who have been pursuing their vocation in that locality for 

 thirty year- and who have seen the salmon industry develop into one of 

 much greater importance than before artificial propagation was begum 

 and who have also been witnesses to the remarkable development of the 

 striped bass, we learned that fish, ranging in weight from thirty to sixty 

 pounds, can be obtained in almost unlimited numbers ripe for spawn- 

 ing. We confidently believe that it will be a simple matter to collect 

 all the eggs we can handle, provided an increase is made in our fund for 

 the support and maintenance of hatcheries, the money to be expended 

 jointly with the Federal commission in the establishment and operation 

 of an experiment hatchery at that point. The river has not sufficient 

 fall to depend upon a natural flow of water, but by artificial means 

 water can be raised to insure a continuous flow through the hatching 

 troughs. We earnestly hope that you will recommend to the Legisla- 

 ture that the small additional appropriation, sufficient to demonstrate 

 the feasibility of this project, be granted, which, if successful, will prove 

 of vast benefit to our people. 



With a close enforcement of the net restrictions, a strict observance 

 of the Saturday and Sunday close season, and the establishment of a 

 hatchery, we believe that the supply of striped bass will not only be 

 maintained in spite of the heavy market demand, but will be largely 

 increased. We therefore do not recommend the establishment of a close 

 season, but, as an additional protection, do recommend that the legal 



