THIRTY-SECOND BIENNIAL REPORT 67 



the biennial period to yield products in excess of thai of all the Other 

 fisheries combined. This superiority over the other fisheries, however, 

 has declined to about that of five years ago. This is graphically shown 

 in Pig. 19. The total catch of sardines for the years 1930 and 1931, 

 as already stated, was 26 per cent less than that of the two preceding 

 years, but the decrease appears even greater when the comparison is 

 made by seasons, as in the following tables : 



Sardine Season 1930-1931 



Amount of catch, 344,002,000 lbs Decline from previous season 46% 



Pack of pound oval cans, 1,739,206 cases Decline from previous season 53% 



Pack, other size cans, 416,122 cases Decline from previous season 35% 



Sardine meal, 18,523 tons Decline from previous season 47% 



Sardine oil, 4,757,566 gallons Decline from previous season 25% 



Sardine Season 1931-1932 



Amount of catch, 262,640,000 lbs Decline from previous season 23% 



Pack of pound oval cans, 1,460,900 cases Decline from previous season 16% 



Pack of other size cans, 210,485 cases Decline from previous season 49% 



Sardine meal, 15,039 tons Decline from previous season 18% 



Sardine oil, 3,517,983 gallons Decline from previous season 26% 



The causes of this decline in the production of the sardine fishery 

 are many but the principal ones are overproduction of canned sardines 

 as well as of the so-called by-products, oil and meal ; the world-wide 

 financial depression ; competition of Japanese and Russian sardines, 

 fish meal and oil ; unfavorable rates of exchange for goods sold in 

 foreign countries and high tariffs levied by other countries against 

 our sardines. 



In our last biennial report we told of how the fish reduction act of 

 1929, which permits canners to use 32^ per cent of the sardine catch 

 for reduction purposes, stimulated the canning of sardines in order 

 that the larger profit might be made on the percentage used for reduc- 

 tion, until the sardine catch of the season of 1929-1930 reached the 

 unprecedented amount of 322,600 tons, and this in spite of the fact 

 that a closed season was established which was designed to reduce the 

 catch 20 per cent. The theory, that the sardine catch would be limited 

 by the amount of canned sardines the markets would absorb, did not 

 work. The price of canned sardines had declined still further below 

 the cost of production and the market for the so-called by-products, 

 oil and meal, had experienced a decided slump. 



The 1930-1931 season opened with an estimated carry-over of 500,- 

 000 cases of canned sardines. The price asked for these was ridiculously 

 low and the prices on the by-products — fish oil and meal — had still 

 further declined. The price paid to fishermen was reduced from $11 

 per ton to $8. The season was marked by a reduced pack and by 

 price-cutting and fishermen's strikes. 



The sardine season of 1931-1932 opened with the warehouses of 

 the packers practically empty of canned sardines. A price of $8 a 

 ton was again agreed upon by packers and fishermen. There was some 

 trouble at Monterey over prices but the season passed without the 

 strife which characterized the previous season. Due to poor markets, 

 a number of the packers did not open and several others were open for 

 only part of the season. The price of sardine oil for the season was 



