FORTIETH BIENNIAL REPORT 



43 



Figure 19. Sport fishing aboard a party fishing boat in Southern California waters. 



About 400 boats are engaged in carrying anglers on fishing trips along the California 



coast. PhotograpJi cowtesy of Pier Point Landing, Long Beach 



in an effort to determine how often the average fisherman tries his luck. 

 Each boat owner and his operator received a mimeographed letter stating 

 the aims of the Bureau of Marine Fisheries in regard to conservation of 

 the sport fishing resources. Some of these operators, by arrangement, 

 are furnishing specimens for identification and life-history work. 



BAIT FISHERY 



Following the expansion of ocean sport fishing in Southern Cali- 

 fornia, particularly since 1925, bait hauling as a supporting industry 

 necessarily expanded at a proportional rate ; and the Bureau of Marine 

 Fisheries in 1938 instituted a system for determining the amount of live 

 bait taken. The skipper of each bait boat is required to keep a daily record 

 in numbers of scoops. Figures for the years 1939-1942 are on file. None 

 are available from 1943 through 1945 as wartime security regulations 

 practically eliminated bait hauling. Records for the last two years, 1946 

 and 1947, mark the beginning of a new era in the bait industry. 



Bait landings also furnish an indication of the sardine spawning 

 success as sardines during their first year of life constitute an important 

 part of bait poundage. Indications are that spawning success was only 

 slightly improved during this biennium over the 1940-1942 spawning 

 seasons. All bait figures since 1939 fail to compare favorably with the 

 sardine hatch of that year. 



