18 FISH AND GAME COMMISSION 



tentative site has been selected on Cedar Creek in northern Mendocino 

 County. A hatchery at that location would not only serve to produce 

 salmon and trout for stocking the streams of the area but would serve as 

 a central working headquarters for stream improvement and fish rescue 

 crews which play an important part in a program that of necessity must 

 be largely dependent upon natural propagation if the runs of steelhead 

 and salmon are to be maintained. 



Another very important recreation area in California where the 

 fishing could be improved through better hatchery production is that of 

 Tahoe, the lake itself, the surrounding lakes and streams, and the Truckee 

 River. The present Tahoe Hatchery has a very unsatisfactory water 

 supply in that it has an average temperature of 42°, too cold for the 

 satisfactory growth of trout. During recent je&rs the production of the 

 Tallac Hatchery has been increased so that about a million fish are 

 turned out each year, of which about 400,000 are from 3 to 4 inches in 

 length. This is obviously inadequate since Lake Tahoe itself has an area of 

 over 210 square miles. The water supply at the Tallac Hatchery is not 

 entirely adequate for present operations and additional expansion is 

 therefore dependent to a large extent upon the location of new sources, 

 which at the present time remain unknown. 



The third area needing development is that around and to the north 

 of Mt. Lassen. There are many famous trout waters in that area and 

 with the development of the lake above Shasta Dam it will undoubtedly 

 become more important as a recreation area. Fortunately, there is an 

 abundance of spring water in this region although much of it is a little 

 low in temperature for the best growth. Two satisfactory sites have 

 been located and development should be considered in the near future. 

 No program for fish conservation would be satisfactory or complete 

 that depended solely upon artificial propagation. Artificial propagation 

 and the planting of fish can only be successful if it is solidly based upon 

 a knowledge of the life history of the fishes handled and of their habitats. 

 Further than that the rearing and planting of fish in such a State as 

 California only supplements the production of nature itself. The natural 

 abundance of fish in the streams and lakes of California in the early days 

 is well known but too frequently the great natural production of trout 

 and salmon is overlooked or minimized by sportsmen. It is true that it 

 has been greatly reduced by the use and modification of our waters for 

 industrial and agricultural purposes. Streams have been dried up and 

 diverted from their natural courses, dams have blocked migrating fish 

 and pollution has killed many of the fish that then remained. In hun- 

 dreds of ways the development of the State has tended to reduce the 

 number of fish in our streams and lakes, for the most part unavoidably, 

 but in many cases the damage would have been less if proper protective 

 measures had been taken. The proper protective measures to be taken 

 are basically dependent upon the habits of the fish and their requirements 

 for living space. These, together with a complete knowledge of the 

 complex pattern and interdependence of the other necessary uses of 

 water go to make up the problem of the fisheries biologist. 



In 1938 a comprehensive plan for handling this phase of the work 

 was set up in the Bureau of Fish Conservation. District biologists were 

 assigned to five key areas in the State and in 1941 Mr. Brian Curtis was 

 appointed as Supervising Fisheries Biologist to direct their work. The 



