58 FISH AND GAME COMMISSION 



LIVE BAIT FISHERY 



Tliere has been little if any change in the past two years either in 

 the manner in which live bait fishermen operate or in the handling of 

 the catch records that these fishermen maintain for the bureau. The 

 kinds and amounts of fish taken daily by the fishermen have been reported 

 to us and we have accompanied as many bait boats as possible during 

 each season. On these trips much information is gained that does not 

 appear on the catch records and at the same time good relationships are 

 maintained. 



During this biennium, the bait reports indicated that practically 

 no small sardines were caught on the bait grounds of Southern Cali- 

 fornia. The total bait catch has increased and adult sardines form a 

 larger part of the total than was true in the 1946-1948 Biennium. 



SHARKS 



Since before World "War II the shark fishery in California has been 

 primarily for the purpose of obtaining vitamin A from the liver oils. 

 Within the last few months, this industry has died a rather sudden death. 

 In California waters the vitamin fishery has depended primarily upon 

 soupfin sharks. Dogfish were of secondary consideration. The soupfin 

 has been subject to a A^ery intensive fishery and has shown signs of 

 extreme depletion. Soupfin liver prices advanced to a point where first- 

 quality male livers were bringing as much as $1 per ounce. Even at this 

 fantastic price, the fish were so scarce that many fishermen were dropping 

 out of the business, being unable to make a living. Early in 1950, there 

 were extensive imports of much cheaper shark liver oils and the develop- 

 ment of artificial vitamin A. Between them, these two occurrences forced 

 the price of soupfin livers from $16 per pound down to about $2.25 per 

 pound and made it impossible for the few remaining soupfin fishermen 

 to stay in business. A corresponding drop in dogfish liver prices has 

 made it a practical certainty that, barring a major economic upheaval, 

 there will be no dogfish fishery when the species becomes available to the 

 trawlers this coming wanter. 



SEA LIONS, SEA ELEPHANTS AND SEA OTTERS 



The sea lion population seems to have changed little in the past two 

 decades. A considerable increase in numbers has been noted at Santa 

 Barbara and San Nicolas Islands which is offset by a decrease in other 

 I)laces. Tlie increased activity of the Navy at San Miguel and San Cle- 

 mente Islands has caused most of the animals that previously used those 

 islands to move away. 



T)u' protection given the sea elephants for many years in Mexican 

 and Call ion lia waters is beginning to show results. Several hundred can 

 usually be found about the Channel Islands. Sea lion surveys in the 

 late twenties did not reveal a single sea elephant in California waters. 



The sea otters, inhabiting the stretch of coast between Monterey and 

 San Simeon, appear to be maintaining their numbers. Several of the 

 animals can u.sually be observed in many of the protected coves in this 

 area. 



