FORTY-FIRST BIENNIAL REPORT 59 



KELP 



Of the several seaweeds ooeasionally gathered, only one, the j;iant 

 kelp, is utilized in qnantity. Two fir-ms are eno-agv-d in harvestino' ji'iant 

 kelp. One is located at tSan I)ie<iO and ])roduc('s al<iinates wliich are in 

 demand for a number of industrial purposes. Tlie second, at Ran Pedro, 

 produces some medicinal products but the bulk of its output is powdered 

 kelp used in mixture for stockfoods, especially for poultry, ho^i's and 

 dairy stock. 



The financial return to the State from the tonnage tax on harvested 

 kelp and the leasing of beds is small. In recent years the harvest has 

 averaged about 57,000 wet tons of kelp per year. This is but a small 

 fraction of the amounts cut during World War I. The interests of the 

 State are fully protected by detailed law^s governing the leasing of beds 

 and methods of harvesting. It is -noteworthy that tln-oii^li the years no 

 court actions have been necessary. 



The effects of kelp harvesting liave been studied by various agencies 

 over the past 30 years and the results have been reported in Federal and 

 State publications. This natural resource is unique in that utilization 

 tends to improve the original supply. Supervised harvesting results in 

 a more healthy growth in the beds with less breakage from wave action 

 and less litter to wash ashore. Valuable products are being produced 

 from this resource without injury to the beds, to the fisheries, or to the 

 recreational areas of Southern California. 



FISHERIES STATISTICS 



Accomplishment in the statistical unit during the past two years 

 has been possible because for the first time in many years the clerical 

 staff quota was filled and there were men placed in training for the field 

 work which had long been neglected. With the weight of detail lifted the 

 supervising staff had time to devote to an overhaul of the tools for col- 

 lecting and the mechanics for handling the record of the billion pound 

 catch. Conditions had changed rapidly in the fisheries, in the fleet and 

 in the industry in recent years and the demand for statistical summaries 

 was increasing. 



After careful study revisions were made in most of the forms from 

 which the fisheries statistics are compiled. Because these simple forms 

 had been carefully planned they had met many of the gradual changes 

 in conditions and given adequate information over a long period of 

 years. We were reluctant to make them more complex but the postwar 

 adjustments in the fisheries and the industry had brought changes that 

 could not be recorded on the simpler form. On the fish receipts, for 

 example, it was necessary to get a record of gear on every catch because 

 the fishermen were using so many kinds and changing gear so often that 

 the yearly boat registration which recorded gear for each vessel could 

 uot give sufficient information to enable us to follow these changes. It 

 was also necessary to ask for three locality records ; the water area where 

 the fish were caught, the place of first landing and the final destination 

 of the fish. At times the vessels do not unload at the cannery or market 

 dock as they did in the past but deliver their catch hundreds of miles 

 away to a barge anchored on the fishing grounds or to a truck at a 



