THIETIETH BIENNIAL REPORT 117 



reach the low point where it does not pay to fish. As this summer run 

 begins to fail, some of the fishermen do not fish until the later fall sea- 

 son, and the belief arises that the salmon run later. 



We have this same appearance of the run becoming later in the fall 

 run itself. The runs do not come into the rivers suddenly. A run 

 starts by a few fish arriving, and the run gradually grows in proportions 

 over a period of several weeks or months until the peak is reached. 

 After the peak is reached, the run quickly subsides and is soon over. 

 For this reason, when serious overfishing is taking place, the peak and 

 conclusion of the reduced run will remain fairly constant in time, but 

 the time at which profitable fishing begins during the early stages of 

 the run comes later and later, as the salmon supply is reduced. This 

 is exactly what is happening on the Sacramento River. The run is not 

 later. The profitable fishing is later but the conclusion of the run is 

 not later. 



A number of years ago the Sacramento season closed on September 

 16. The Fish and Game Commission and the legislature were convinced 

 by the fishermen that the salmon run was growing later and that too 

 large a portion of the run was protected by the closed seasons. There- 

 fore, the open time was extended five days and a few years later again 

 extended to September 25. It was then observed that before September 

 25 arrived, all the salmon had arrived and the last stragglers, or so 

 many of them as were not caught by the nets, were well up the river. 

 The fishermen on the lower salmon fishing grounds found that there 

 were no salmon to catch as the run was over. Therefore, before the 

 season closed, they would move up the river with their nets and the hist 

 remnant of the run was subjected to the intensive fishing of the com- 

 bined commercial forces of the bay and the river. The closed season, 

 theoretically designed to let at least one-third of the run pass up the 

 river unhindered by nets, was not freeing any portion of the run from 

 the destruction of the nets. 



It took years of effort to get that closing time back to where it was. 

 In fact it never has been gotten back to where it was. It closes one 

 day later: on September 17. The season should close one week earlier 

 than it does now, if we are to continue to have a Sacramento commer- 

 cial salmon fishery. The fishermen are seeking to have the season close 

 again at a later date. The object, of course, is so they can take more 

 salmon. They still use the argument that the run has become later. I 

 hope I have made it clear that where it appears the run is later, that is 

 due to the serious depletion of the salmon supply. What we need is 

 enough protection for our salmon that the run will have the appearance 

 of becoming earlier. 



