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DEPARTMENT OP FISH AND GAME 



salmon nests were left high and dry. This should have a very serious 

 effect on the spawning run of 1954. The most damage was in the Tuol- 

 umne River. North of the Feather River there was high water but little 

 or no real damage. The main Sacramento River run was not affected. 



A drought in early 1948 was so serious that almost the entire flow of 

 the Tuolumne River at Don Pedro was stored for future irrigation needs. 

 The flow below the La Grange Dam was so low that almost all the previous 

 fall's salmon nests were dry at hatching time. As a result the 1951 spawn- 

 ing run in the Tuolumne River was a complete failure. 



This means that for two successive years the best salmon stream in 

 the San Joaquin Valley has had its salmon run almost wiped out. The 

 handicap will be very difficult to overcome. 



BOTTOM FISHERIES 



Increased catches characterized the bottomnsh industry of the State 

 during this biennium. The increment was due to the continued expanding 

 utilization of dover sole. This species now constitutes the backbone of 

 the sole fillet production in the State, with the port of Eureka supplying 

 by far the greatest amount of packaged fillets. Out of the northern region 

 of the State, a fleet of 37 to 50 trawlers fished each month and from the 

 Monterey and Santa Barbara regions, an average of about seven or eight. 

 A sizable industry is supported by the activity of these boats, their 

 landings of fish adding greatly to the wealth of the communities from 

 which they operate. The bulk of the catch landed by the trawl fleet is 

 clover sole, with English sole and petrale sole following in importance 

 (Microstomus pacificus, Parophrys vetulus and Eopsetta jordani). The 





^*"**l^5fe., 





The boat Hornet off Morro Bay bringing up the shrimp beam trawl used in the fishery off that 

 port, June, 1952. This is a new fishery made possible by the department's discovery of pre- 

 viously unknown shrimp beds. 



