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FISH AND GAME COMMISSION- 



REPORT OF THE BUREAU OF COMMERCIAL FISHERIES 



By N. B. Scofield, Chief 



The production of California's commercial fisheries follows very 

 closely the nation's prosperity curve. When prosperity in the country 

 is increasing, the production of the fisheries increases at about the same 

 rate. When a depression comes, the fisheries production declines. Indi- 

 vidual fisheries may vary from this rule, due to increase or decline 



Fig. 18. Total landings of fish (exclusive of mollusks and crustaceans) in Cali- 

 fornia. Importations from Japan and Hawaii have been omitted. Catches 

 south of the International Boundary have been included. "Other Fish" consists 

 of the combined species of fish except sardines. The top of the black bar 

 represents the total of our so-called "local" catch. 



in abundance of certain species of fish but, as a whole, the fisheries 

 industry of the State responds quickly to the fluctuations in prosperity. 

 This can be seen by referring to Fig. 18 which shows the total 

 landings of fish in the State, by years, since 1916. The decline in 

 production during the depression of 1920 and 1921 is plainly shown. 

 Then, with the rising prosperity, the production of the fisheries 

 increased rapidly to the peak year of 1929. The years of 1930 and 

 1931 show the effect of the recent depression. It is worthy of note 

 that the sardine catch, the largest of California's fisheries, represented 

 by the black bars in Fig. 19, is affected more by depressions than 

 the rest of the fisheries, although the canned sardines produced in Cali- 

 fornia constitute one of the cheapest foods produced in the country. 

 The production of the other fisheries shows the same response to finan- 

 cial depression, but in a less marked degree. 



