38 FISH AND GAME COMMISSION 



REPORT OF THE BUREAU OF MARINE FISHERIES 



By S. H. DadOj Assistant Chief 



and 



G. H. Clark, Supervising Fisheries Researcher 



California continues to lead all other States in total production 

 and value of its commercial fisheries. In 1938 there were 1,208,950,115 

 pounds and in 1939, 1,476,051,812 pounds of fish and shellfish delivered 

 to California fishing ports by California fishing boats. The landings 

 for the two years combined amounted to 2,685,001,927 pounds. Com- 

 pared with the total catch for the two-year period of 1936 and 1937 of 

 2,417,557,000 pounds, the deliveries of 1938 and 1939 show an increase 

 of over 11 per cent. 



The canning of fish continues to increase with a pack of 6,341,557 

 eases in 1938 and 8,021,345 cases in 1939. This is a total pack of 

 14,362,902 cases for the two years, as compared with 13,790,431 cases 

 for the combined years of 1936 and 1937. The estimated value of the 

 canned, cured and manufactured fishery products for the years of 1938 

 and 1939 was $78,462,614. At the close of 1939 there was an invest- 

 ment of about $10,000,000 in fish canning and manufacturing plants, 

 which gave employment to approximately 10,000 people at the peak of 

 the packing season. 



For the license year 1938-1939 (April 1st to March 31st), 7,519 

 market fishermen licenses were issued, and 8,697 in 1939-1940. 



A complete report of the fish catch and fish pack for the calendar 

 vears of 1938 and 1939 and the special seasonal sardine reports for 

 1938-1939 and 1939-1940 were issued as Circulars No. 13 and No. 14, 

 and are republished in the appendix of this report. 



SARDINES 



The sardine fishery continues to lead, in pounds landed, all other 

 fisheries, not only in California but also in all other States. Its out- 

 standing importance in tonnage, as compared with all other fish of the 

 State, is shov^m in Figure 1. 



With the passage of an initiative amendment adding Section 1110 

 to the Fish and Game Code, the floating reduction plants, which had 

 been operating outside of the State's jurisdiction on the high seas off 

 San Francisco for a number of years, ceased operations early in Decem- 

 ber, 1938. All sardines taken off the coast of California since that 

 time have been delivered to shore plants. 



The sardine catch delivered to California shore plants and to the 

 floating reduction plants, which operated off the California coast dur- 

 ing the 1938-39 season, is shown in tons for past two seasons. 



ISeason Shore plant 



1938-39 528,576 



1939-40 .531,878 



