THIRTY-EIGHTH BIENNIAL REPORT 35 



Interest in the lucrative albacore and soupfin shark fisheries, which 

 were successful in 1943, as well as high prices of all fish, encouraged large 

 numbers of people to enter the industry. However, commercial licenses 

 were also bought b}' some solely to (jualify for the Coast Guard passes 

 required for movement of boats in ocean waters. An unknown number 

 of licenses must be classified as temporary, and do not represent a perma- 

 nent increase in the number of commercial fishermen in the State. 



Some idea of the distribution of the increase within the State may be 

 obtained from Table IV which shows the number of commercial fishermen 

 registering as residents of the different ports. 



TABLE IV 



Region of Residence 1942-43 1943-44 



Eureka - 213 315 



Sacramento 367 442 



San Francisco 927 1,347 



Monterey 994 968 



Santa Barbara 306 276 



Los Angeles 4,379 6,536 



San Diego 1,391 1,552 



Alaska, Washington, and Oregon 466 354 



Mexico 13 



Total 9,043 11,803 



SARDINES 



The catch of sardines is reported on a seasonal basis, the season in 

 northern California extending from August 1st to February 15th, and 

 that in southern California from October 1st to March 1st. The details 

 of the production are given in the catch circulars which are reprinted 

 in the appendix. The total production of sardines and sardine products 

 is shown in Table V for the two seasons of the biennium. 



TABLE V 



Sardines (seasonal record) 1942-43 1943-44 



Total tons landed 501,341 473,522 



Tons received for canning 271,703 231,527 



Total cases of all size cans packed 3,743,373 3,160,701 



Number of reduction permits issued 76 75 



Permit tonnage granted 378,634 370,272 



Number of tons used under permit 229,334 241,733 



Tons of sardine meal produced 76,983 73,512 



Gallons of sardine oil produced 13,148,783 13,783,011 



A further increase in the number of reduction permits over the 

 previous biennium is noted. Furthermore, a decrease in the total case 

 pack from the record established in the 1941-42 season also occurred. 

 The catch in both years was below that of 1941-42. During the 1941-42 

 season, an overall average of 9.2 cases of sardines were packed for every 

 ton of sardines landed. In the 1942-43 season this case pack had fallen 

 to 7.5 per ton ; and decreased still further in 1943-44 to 6.7 cases per ton. 

 While the decrease in catch of the last year of the biennium amounted to 

 5.5 per cent over the first year of the biennium, only 49 per cent of the 

 last year 's catch was received for canning, whereas 54 per cent of the first 

 year 's catch was received for this purpose. The decrease in pack was due 

 not only to the decrease in catch. There is no doubt that the high prices 



