28 



FISH AND GAME COMMISSION 



coordinated activity on the part of the agencies responsible for the con- 

 servation of fisheries resources can maintain the salmon fishery at its 

 present high level of production. 



The 1944 salmon catch of 10,285,000 pounds was the greatest 

 recorded since 1920. This production reflected a gratifying increase over 

 the all-time low of 2,730,000 pounds landed in 1939. 



The following year witnessed an even greater catch. The deliveries 

 of 13,380,000 pounds in 1945 have not been surpassed since the Division 

 of Fish and Game instituted its system for obtaining comprehensive catch 

 records over thirty years ago. Record breaking catches were made in both 

 years by ocean trollers as well as by gill net fishermen in the Sacramento- 

 San Joaquin River area. In addition to the commercial landings, substan- 

 tial catches of salmon are made by sport fishermen. 



Figure 8. Salmon on a nest in tlie American River near Folsom. 

 Photograph by Donald II. Fry, Jr. 



Part of the decline in the fishery from 1938 to 1941 can be attributed 

 to a succession of dry years which adversely affected spawning and sur- 

 vival of young fish. The subsequent improvement is due in some measure 

 to natural factors which resulted in successful spawning but can also be 

 credited to the cumulative results of wise protective legislation and to 

 improved enforcement of the conservation laws. (See Table XI, Appen- 

 dix, page 106.) 



CENTRAL VALLEYS SALMON STUDIES 



San Joaquin River: Only the spring run was counted in the San 

 Joaquin River. A small fall run manages to get through in years when 

 there is water in the river in the area between Dos Palos and Gustine. 



