120 FISH AND GAME COMMISSION 



REPORT OF SARDINE CANNING AND REDUCTION PLANTS, 



SEASON 1939-1940 



Sardine fishing started in the Monterey district on the night of 

 September 12 and the first deliveries were made on the 13th. In the 

 San Francisco district fishing did not start until the night of October 

 9 and deliveries made on the morning of the 10th were very heavy, 

 for a number of the fishing boats did not unload their catches until 

 the following day. In the San Pedro district deliveries were made on 

 November 1 and in the San Diego district only ninety-five tons of 

 sardines were delivered during the season. 



Sardines are used for two main purposes, that is canning and 

 manufacture of oil and meal by a reduction process. To engage in 

 the manufacture of oil and meal by a reduction process, it is necessary 

 to obtain a permit from the Commission. Sardines may be received 

 for canning purposes without limit on the tonnage provided that not 

 more than 32^ per cent of the amount received for canning may be 

 used by a reduction process. This overage is provided by law to permit 

 the discard of soft, broken, and off-size fish which are not fit to pack. 

 There has been no change in the law since the 1938-39 season, and the 

 method of determining the percentage of sardines received for canning 

 that may be used for reduction purposes has not changed from that 

 shown in Circular 13.^ 



There was an increase in the sardine pack, principally in the San 

 Francisco and Monterey districts and there would have been an increase 

 in the San Pedro district if sardines had been available and of a size 

 and condition fit for canning. 



For canning purposes, 16,552 tons were received in the San 

 Francisco district, 130,518 tons in the Monterey district, 73,634 tons 

 in the San Pedro district and 4 tons in the San Diego district — a total 

 of 225,357 tons as compared with 187,857 tons received for canning 

 purposes during the previous season. 



Permits to receive and use sardines by a reduction process were 

 issued in three classifications, based on the press capacity. Plants with 

 an hourly capacity of one to twenty tons were desigTiated as Class I 

 plants of which the fifty-one in the State were given 5,000 ton permits 

 for the season. The plants with an hourly capacity of twenty-one to 

 forty tons were designated as Class II plants and the twelve plants 

 in this classification were given permits for 7,500 tons for the season. 

 The six plants with an hourly capacity of forty-one tons or more were 

 designated as Class III plants and given permits for 10,000 tons for 

 the season. 



The permits for the San Francisco and Monterey districts were 

 issued on a monthly allotment basis, starting with ten per cent of 

 the permit in August, fifteen per cent in September, twenty per 



1 Circular 13, "Statistical Report of Fresh and Canned Fishery Products, Year 

 1938. Sardine Canning and Reduction Plants Report Season 1938-1939." 



