REPORT OF THE FISH AND GAME COMMISSION. 89 



result and that the natural hatch will be increased thereby even if the 

 artificial hatch is not. 



Shad. 



Only a few years ago the shad was so plentiful as to be almost a 

 nuisance, but now it is being overfished and protective measures will 

 be necessary to prevent serious injury to the supply. The Chinese 

 shrimp fishermen, when they were compelled to discontinue shrimp 

 fishing in 1911, prepared to salt shad for the markets of China. They 

 began operations in the spring of 1912. The next year saw some of 

 our larger fish handlers in the business. Figures are lacking for the 

 first years, but in 1915, 2,400,000 pounds were dry salted ; besides this, 

 100,000 pounds of fresh shad roe were used locally and shipped East 

 and 606,048 pounds were canned in half-pound cans. About 350,000 

 pounds of the fish were used fresh within the state and 360,000 pounds 

 of round fish were canned, making a total of 3,816,048 poimds for the 

 year. On account of the increased water freight rates no shad were 

 dry salted for the Chinese trade this year, but the increased demand 

 for canned shad and for our fresh shad in the eastern United States 

 resulted in a larger catch. Thirty-three carloads of the fresh fish were 

 shipped East, as well as twenty casks of mild cured shad, for which 

 there is an Eastern demand developing. There were used in the fresh 

 markets of the state up to June 30, 1916, 405,992 pounds out of a total 

 of 4,413,675 pounds taken. A great many more w^ere canned than 

 in 1915. 



In spite of the fact that the catch is rapidly increasing from year to 

 year, the supply of fish is decreasing. It is estimated that the number 

 of shad entering the river in 1915 was 40 per cent short of the year 

 before and that the run of 1916 was 60 per cent short of the 1915 run. 

 In 'fishing for shad, gill nets with a 6|-inch stretched mesh are used. 

 This size mesh catches the roe shad only and allows the undesirable buck 

 shad to pass through. The fishing which was formerly almost entirely 

 in the river is now mostly in the lower bays, San Pablo Bay especially. 

 The nets used on the flats of San Pablo Bay have, in addition to shad, 

 been catching large numbers of striped bass which come in preparatory 

 to ascending the river to spawn. 



In 1915 accurate account was kept of the proportion of male to female 

 shad on the upper San Joaquin River. The males outnumbered the 

 females 20 to 1. This year the proportion is stated to be near 40 to 1 

 and the total number of shad appearing in the upper river is decreasing 

 very rapidly. This difference in number between the sexes shows the 

 intensity of the fishing. The sexes normally are about even and if the 

 males exceed the females 40 to 1 in the upper river it means the 6|-inch 

 mesh gill nets have captured 97| per cent of the roe shad. As the 

 corresponding 97^ per cent of males is useless as far as the propagation 



7—26231 



