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DEPARTMENT OF FISH AND GAME 



comprised 85 percent of the catch, and in 1953-54 one- 

 half. .Mature fish which did appear off California were 

 caught wherever possible before the spawning sea- 

 sons. This reflects nature's failure to restore to the 

 population new recruits in sufficient numbers to main- 

 tain a healthy fishery. 



Explanations Sought 



E.xplanations of why survival from each season's 

 spawning has been poor in the last five years, why 

 there is practical 1\- no spawning on the Southern Cali- 

 fornia grounds, and whv there has been little apparent 

 movement of sardines from Mexican to California 

 waters, is being sought by all the agencies working 

 under the direction of the Marine Research Com- 

 mittee. 



Either one of two conclusions or a combination of 

 both appears inescapable; that there has been an un- 

 precedented series of years of unfavorable oceanic 

 conditions, or that the sardine breeding stock has been 

 hea\-il%" impaired b\- past heavy catches. 



Because the part man has played in the serious re- 

 duction of the species is the only factor which can 

 be controlled, the Department of Fish and Game is 

 deeply concerned with the human phase of the fishery. 

 It has regularly, but unsuccessfully, recommended 

 regulation of the sardine fishery. Although the im- 

 portance man has played in the fishery still is a matter 

 of dispute in some quarters, the department feels 

 strongly that the sardine resource cannot wait until all 

 the facts are available, and that commercial extinction 

 of the species is likely unless action is taken. 



Failure of the industry has been so complete that the 

 danger of continued overfishing cannot be ignored 

 either by responsible agencies or by the citizens of Cali- 

 fornia. Accordingly, the department, after consulta- 

 tion with leaders of the industry and with sportsmen's 

 organizations, presented to the 1953 Session of the 

 Legislature a management plan designed to restore the 

 sardine industry as well as that of the Pacific mackerel, 

 and to maintain the anchovy and jack mackerel fish- 



Sordine eggs being artificially ferlilized aboard the research vessel 



Yellowfin. The larval Fish are kept alive lor several days for research 



purposes. 



eries. The plan, which would have authorized seasonal 

 catch limits to be set by the Fish and Game Commis- 

 sion on the basis of abundance of the viarious species, 

 was not adopted. Thus the industry, not entirely ready 

 to accept conservation measures, continues to operate 

 on a day-to-day basis, unregulated, and fast fading 

 into memories of what was, and what might have been. 



SPORT FISHING 



Although the California oflF-shore sport fishing catch 

 declined considerably during the biennium, the salt 

 water angler still can choose a fishing boat from a 

 fleet of 1,000, and he can find a sport boat landing in 

 every major California port and most of the minor 

 ones. 



Fishing accommodations range from small commer- 

 cial craft with room for one or two anglers to luxuri- 

 ous boats with staterooms and galley service available. 

 A4ost of the sport fishing fleet is concentrated in South- 

 ern California waters and the greatest catch is made 

 there. In addition, there is an almost equal fishing ef- 

 fort from private boats and piers. 



Private ownership of skiffs and small boats is in- 

 creasing rapidly and may be contributing to an ap- 

 parent stabilization of growth in the sport boat fleet. 

 In 1953 sport boats reported a reduction of 70,000 

 passenger days from the 1952 figure of 563,000 pas- 

 senger days. At least part of this reduction can be 

 traced to poorer fishing. Following is a table showing 

 comparative commercial sport boat catches of the 

 three most important game fish species: 



Numbers of Fish 



Year Albacore Yellowtail White seabass 



1952 187,000 59,000 41,000 



1953 - 23,000 26,000 28,000 



Offsetting these decreases, jack mackerel were taken 

 by Southern California sports fishermen in great num- 

 bers, 195,000 in 1953 as compared to 4,500 during the 

 previous year. This created fishing for thousands of 

 anglers, and marked the first instance that these fish 

 assumed any importance in the sport fishery. 



Removed From List 



An important development during the biennium was 

 the removal of the kelp bass, a highly important game 

 fish, from the commercial fish list by the 1953 State 

 Legislative Session. At the same time a minimum size 

 limit of 10 J inches was imposed. Both moves, based 

 on research facts, were widely endorsed by the sports 

 fishing industry and contributed directly to sound 

 conservation of this fishing. 



Tagging and life history work with the kelp bass 

 was continued, with more than 3,000 fish tagged dur- 

 ing the two-year period. An important development 

 was the use of monofilament nylon, which was found 

 to be superior to stainless steel or silver for tagging 

 certain kinds of sports and commercial fishes, and 



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