had attained weights exceeding 18 pounds by mid- 

 summer 1956. 



Fish and invertebrates planted by the department 

 in Salton Sea to date include: 1,659 shortfin corvina, 

 63 orangemouth corvina, 2,500 anchovetas, 3,000 

 mysids (small shrimp-like creatures) and 500 poly- 

 chaet worms. 



THE SHELLFISHERIES 



The total commercial abalone catch, while declin- 

 ing slightly from the previous biennium, is still run- 

 ning better than 4.1 million pounds per year. Almost 

 the entire catch is composed of two species of aba- 

 lone, the red, of which the majority are taken in 

 Central California, and the pink, which comes from 

 the Channel Islands off Southern California. 



The Channel Islands off Southern California were 

 not opened by law to commercial diving until 1943 

 and the fishery there did not get under way until 

 1947. Prior to that time almost all the take consisted 

 of the red abalone from Central California. By 1949 

 almost 50 percent of the total catch was pinks, in- 

 creasing each year to over two-thirds of 195 3's 4.7 

 million pounds. 



RED ABALONE 



Since 1949 the pinks have shown a decline but the 

 production of reds has remained relativel\' steady. 

 Although this decline affects the income of the aba- 

 lone industry it does not mean that the pink abalone 

 population is in danger. The take appears to be level- 

 ing off. Most of the older individuals have been har- 

 vested and now the fishery depends more on the pro- 

 duction of the younger abalone which have grown 

 to marketable size. As the remaining older individuals 



Department's biologist diver coming aboard after collecting somp/e of 

 abalone (in net basket on deck) from ocean bottom near Ft. Bragg. 



CFish and Game Photo by Glen Bickford) 



Underwater pf^otograph taken by a department diver of five red aba- 

 lone in natural habitat. The two abalone at the top of the photograph 

 are feeding on seaweed. 



(Fish and Game Phuto by Glen Bickford) 



are harvested, the catch will probably drop somewhat 

 below its present level. 



This stabilization has been reached in red abalone 

 production at about 1.5 million pounds per >ear. Since 

 1949 the annual catch of reds has been between 1.2 

 and 2 million pounds. 



The San Simeon-Alorro Bay area, from which most 

 of the red abalone come, has been in almost con- 

 tinuous production since 1929. Abalone in this area 

 have a rapid growth rate and in most years the 

 majority of those which reach legal size are to be 

 harvested. The bulk of the shellfish appearing in the 

 catch are young, tender abalone of the highest quality 

 and command a premium price. 



Because of the price difference between reds and 

 pinks many of the Southern California divers moved 

 into the l\Iorro-San Simeon area during spells of good 

 diving w eather, but moved back as soon as the weather 

 got rough. 



Aba/one Study Conducted 



Whether a commercial abalone fishery could be 

 established north of the Golden Gate was the subject 

 of an investigation during the biennium. 



Almost the entire red abalone population of the 

 north coast is located close to the shore line and in 

 relativel\' shallow water. Few, if any, are found be- 

 yond 50 feet in depth. 



Representative sections of the northern coast line 

 were examined during the study. In some small areas 

 observed abalone were found in local abundance, but 

 with few exceptions were small, their growth rate 

 slow and their meat was generally of inferior quality. 

 In many places there were very few abalone above 

 the eight-inch legal size limit required for reds. 



Nowhere among the sections observed were 

 abalone found in sufficient numbers to support a sus- 

 tained commercial fishery, as it currently is sustained 

 on the southern coast of the State. 



Transplanting operations have been conducted with 

 red abalone to determine if this species can be intro- 

 duced into apparently suitable areas where they are 



