Barrels of unwanted carp, a portion of 109 tons removed from City of 



Son Diego's Lake Hodges by chemical treatment prior to restocking with 



game fishes. 



(Fish and Game Photo) 



Near the close of the biennium a fisheries field 

 operating station, including warmwater fish holding 

 ponds, was completed at the Los Serranos Game Farm, 

 Chino, by use of funds provided by the Wildlife Con- 

 servation Board. This will facilitate the warmwater fish 

 salvage and distribution program and permit greater 

 emphasis to be placed on this important function in 

 the southern part of the State. 



Fish Rescue Work 



Salmon and trout (principally steelhead) rescue 

 work is done primarily in the coastal stream basins 

 from San Luis Obispo County to the Oregon border. 

 Several temporary fish rescue crews operated from 

 strategic locations during the biennium. These crews 

 saved large numbers of salmon and steelhead from 

 dr\ing streams. 



The rescued fish were released in waters having a 

 permanent flow, preferably in the same drainage sys- 

 tem, where they could continue their natural life cvcle. 



Total fish salvaged and transplanted during the 

 period from July 1, 1954, through June 30, 1956, 

 amounted to 2,122,468 warmwater fish, 194,915 salmon, 

 I,3.?9,756 trout (principally steelhead) and 7,150 mis- 

 cellaneous saltwater fishes. 



A tabulation of fish salvaged by individual species 

 is found in Table 7, Appendix. 



STREAM AND LAKE IMPROVEMENT 



The biennium saw a great deal of progress in stream 

 and lake restoration and improvement of environment. 

 Activities of this nature were increased in nearly all 

 areas of the State. Certain types of habitat improve- 



ment work took place in all of the regions, while other 

 types of i'.iiprovements were confined to onU' one or 

 two regions. 



Fish screens and ladders were emphasized where 

 there are migrations of salmon and steelhead, while 

 pool building devices were emphasized on Southern 

 California trout streams where there is a shortage of 

 natural pool areas for carrying trout. 



FIVE STANDARD METHODS 



The most common methods used to improve lakes 

 and streams so as to increase the production and uti- 

 lization of game fish are: 



1. The elimination or control of unbalanced popu- 

 lations of fish through chemical treatment or other 

 methods designed to achieve a material reduction in 

 numbers of nonsport fish. 



2. The construction and maintenance of fishways 

 over barriers or the removal of barriers, both natural 

 and man-made, so that adult migratory fish may reach 

 additional spawning areas. 



3. The construction of stream flow maintenance 

 dams which improve stream flows to aid natural trout 

 propagation and survival. 



4. The construction of fish screens or barriers to 

 confine fish to safe waters, or to public waters, or 

 to waters w here they may be utilized by the public. 



5. The construction of stream deflectors, pool-cre- 

 ating devices, and other structures which increase the 

 fish-carr\'ing capacity and angler harvest from fishing 

 waters. 



fish Population Control 



The chemical treatment of waters to remove un- 

 desirable fish and to rehabilitate the sport fisheries was 

 nearl\- three times as great during the past two years 

 as in any previous biennium. This increase may be at- 

 tributed to the success of past work of this type, as 

 well as a great improvement in the chemical com- 

 pounds and methods of application. 



Stunted adult crappie from Hansen Park Reservoir, Los Angeles County, 



were removed by chemical treatment prior to restocking with bass and 



forage minnows. 



(Fish and Game Photo) 



