FORTY-SECOND BIENNIAL REPORT 99 



erosion which fills in pools, spoils spawning grounds, and hastens the 

 closure of stream mouths during low water. Some stream beds have been 

 widened excessively through floods or channel shifts. Water tempera- 

 tures have increased. Insufficient flows have impeded migration and 

 caused fish losses in clried-up or cut-off pools. 



In order to remedy the situation, we have started a developmental 

 project with the following objectives: (1) to remove barriers; (2) to 

 improve flows; (3) to improve habitat and spawning areas; (4) to 

 salvage stranded fingerlings and return them to safe waters. 



At the present time we believe that the removal of natural barriers 

 such as waterfalls may be the most profitable. Some of these have always 

 blocked the runs of fish ; others are the result of fairly recent landslides. 

 One such barrier which we intend to remove will open up 84 miles of new 

 stream on the Mad River. 



A rather difficult part of the work will be the removal of heavy log. 

 jams. Some of these are a thousand feet long and contain logs up to 

 eight feet in diameter. Bulldozers, high lines, dynamite, and possibly 

 fire will be used. 



A new California law (Sec. 482.5 of the Fish and Game Code) passed 

 in 195] requires removal of log jams and other types of obstructions by 

 the persons causing them. We plan to remove only those barriers the 

 responsibility for which cannot be fixed. For example, some log jams 

 are known to have been in existence for 40 years and it would be difficult 

 to find the "owners." 



During the four months that this project has been in operation, sur- 

 veys have been made of numerous streams reported to need barrier 

 removal. A log jam on Larabee Creek, Humboldt County, was blasted 

 out. Logs and debris on McDonald Creek, the stream tributary to Stone 

 Lagoon, were removed. Most notable was the removal of the main log 

 barrier in the North Fork of the Mad River block, assuring access to 

 16 additional miles of spawning stream. 



Flows can be improved by narrowing and deepening of channels and 

 by the consolidation of tributaries and distributaries. Such work is 

 planned for the Eel River in late summer. 



By the end of June, 1952, the D-J crew had already rescued over 

 40,000 steelhead and silver salmon. Fish rescue or salvage work by 

 netting is a well-established practice in California. A new wrinkle this 

 year was the experimental use of fish traps for the same purpose. 



The area intended for development extends from the Oregon border 

 to well south of the Golden Gate, but most work will be concentrated 

 in the northernmost area. Preliminary estimates indicate that it may 

 take about ten years to accomplish the major restoration. 



Project F-5-R— Surf Fishing Investigation 



Surf fishing is readity available to the masses of people living along 

 the coast, especially in Southern California, and is an increasingly 

 popular low cost sport. Anglers claim that as their numbers increase, 

 their catches are decreasing. However, surf fishing is a very personalized 

 sport, The fishermen tend to be individualized, are often rather solitary, 



