52 FISH AND GAME COMMISSION. 



fishery has been an added drain on the salmon supply with the result 

 that the fishing restrictions in the inland districts have not been 

 sufficient and the salmon supply as indexed by the number of fish 

 which reach the spawning grounds in the upper Sacramento River 

 has fallen off more than one-half. 



The bay and river fishermen believe that all sea trolling for salmon 

 should be stopped; the salmon trollers think that after the salmon 

 get into the bays and rivers on their way to spawn they should be 

 protected. There are a good many arguments on each side of this 

 question but, it is our opinion that the preponderance of the evidence 

 is against the outside or troll fishing. Washington and Oregon have 

 stopped the outside salmon fishing both for trolling and purse seine 

 fisliing, and their opinion that we are unwise in permitting outside 

 salmon fishing is backed up by the United States Bureau of Fisheries, 

 which is deeply interested as it maintains extensive salmon hatcheries 

 on all the most important streams. 



We recommend that the present salmon law be redrawn so as to 

 eliminate present errors and in order to cut down the outside trolling 

 season as far as is necessary to prevent the destruction of immature 

 fish. 



PATROL. 



Our present commercial fisheries patrol service as described in 

 former reports is sufficient to enforce the fisheries laws with only one 

 or two exceptions. The law passed by the last legislature prohibiting 

 the possession of trawl or drag nets in the southern California districts 

 has made the patrol work of that district so much easier that the one 

 patrol boat we now have there, the "Albacore, " should be able to 

 take care of all of the sea patrol work in southern waters without 

 the aid of another boat. In the waters from Monterey Bay to the 

 north we are in need of a seaworthy boat for patrol. Recent expe- 

 riences in trying to enforce the salmon and crab laws convince us that 

 it is absolutely essential that a seaworthy boat be procured. We 

 recommend again that the patrol boat Quinnat be sold and that it be 

 replaced by a seagoing patrol boat. 



INVESTIGATIONS. 



The fisheries research and investigations of the department have 

 been carried on mainly by the staff of the State Fisheries Laboratory 

 under the direction of Will F. Thompson. Mr. Thompson's laboratory 

 report is herewith presented. 



In addition to the investigations of the laboratory staff, salmon 

 investigations have been continued under the direction of Professor 

 J. 0. Snyder and by one assistant. Some of the results of this work 

 have appeared at intervals in California Fjsh and Game. As a result 

 of these investigations, we have been able to fix quite accurately the 

 times of the year which should be closed to salmon fishing in the 

 sea districts so as to prevent the destruction of small and immature 

 salmon. This could not be determined except by an accurate analysis 

 of the catch at the different fishing centers. Extensive marking exper- 

 iments have been carried on which are shedding much light on the 

 range at sea of the salmon from the different rivers. This knowledge 



