FORTY-FOURTH BIENNIAL REPORT 



57 



dence, eggs and larvae, gathered from plankton hauls 

 off the Pacific Coast show that jack mackerel spawn 

 in excess of 1,000 miles off shore. 



THE ANCHOVY 



Prior to \\'orld War 11 the anchovy in California 

 was utilized primaril\- for live or dead bait. As a 

 product for human consumption the demand for the 

 species was negligible. However, beginning in the late 

 1940s and stimulated b\' the failure of the sardine 

 fishers' the demand for a "substitute sardine" rose 

 sharplw 



From a prewar annual average of much less than 

 1,000,000 pounds the conimeicial landings of an- 

 chovies rose to a high of over 84,000,000 pounds in 

 195.^. This take, coupled with live bait landings in 

 excess of 10,000,000 pounds led to serious concern 



by sportfishing interests that the anchovy, if open to 

 unlimited demand, would go the way of the sardine. 



Commercial Take Down 



In 1954 and 1955 the commercial landings dipped 

 to 42,000,000 and 45,000,000 pounds respectively. This 

 decline was primarily due to a lessening market de- 

 mand for the species. In spite of considerable effort 

 on the part of industry to develop a low cost attrac- 

 ti\e product, worldwide competition had increased 

 to the point where inventories had piled up faster 

 than they could be profitably sold. In addition the 

 return of e\'en small numbers of sardines in 1954, and 

 1955 had decreased the demand for anchovies. 



In view of this lessening demand for anchovies and 

 under a continuing pressiux for some restrictive 

 measures, the Legislature, in 1955, enacted the fol- 



T^Cfc /^^am "T^cMt t^ ^icf^^ (^ame o^ ;4Ci 



This biennium saw the rebirth 

 of a fascinating California whale 

 fishery. Once again seafarers have 

 put to sea to chase the elusive 

 leviathan of the deep. 



But w hen the cry of "Whale 

 Ho!" sounds over the deck of 

 the modern whaling vessel, it is 

 sung not from the briny lungs of 

 some ancient mariner but from 

 the scratchy, impersonal vocal 

 cords of the ship's electronic in- 

 tercom s\'stem. 



Progress, alas, is inevitable. 

 The sailing ship of old has been 

 replaced by converted World 

 A\'ar II navy vessels, manned by 

 relatively small crews of five 

 men. At present there are two 

 licensed whale catchers working 

 out of San Francisco Ba\'. The 

 Demiis Gayk\ which formerly 

 based at the Fields Landing sta- 

 tion, and the Dovna Mae began 

 operations in the spring of 1956. 

 Reports revealed good catches as 

 the biennium ended. 



The hand harpoon has gone 

 the wa\' of the sailing ship. To- 

 day's harpoon consists of a 175- 

 pound shaft tipped with an ex- 

 plosive grenade-type head fired 

 by a powerful gun mounted on 

 the bou of the catcher boat 



While the minimum size of an 

 ordinar\- fish is usualK' expressed 

 in inches, the minimum size of 

 the sperm whale (the whale of 

 .Mob\' Dick fame) allowed b\ 

 the International Whaling Com- 

 mission, is 50 feet. The legal 

 minimum size of the more com- 

 mon humpback whale is 35 feet. 

 A humpback whale of legal size 

 would weigh approximately 25 

 tons. It is interesting to note that 

 w haling crews are paid for their 

 catch b\- the linear foot rather 

 than by gross weight. 



After these large mammals are 

 towed into the whaling station 

 at Point San Pablo, the\" are 

 winched onto a flencing deck. 

 Each animal is measured and 

 stripped of its blubber (which 



Harpoon cannon mounted on bow of whale 

 killer vessel, Dennis Gayle. 

 (Fish and C;amc Photo In ,1. B. Phillips) 



---#'' 



is approximatel\' one foot thick, 

 depending on the size and con- 

 dition of the whale). This is 

 done by crews of flencers armed 

 with large machete-like knives. 

 The whale is then decapitated 

 and "filleted." Portions of the 

 loin are used for animal food. 



The meat of the humpback 

 whale is palatable and the taste 

 not unlike that of beef. The car- 

 cass is ultimately rendered dow n 

 into oil, fertilizer and bone meal. 



The catcher boats and the 

 land stations expect to catch and 

 process from one to four whales 

 a day during the whaling sea- 

 son. The first catch, made on 

 iVIav 9th, was a 36-ton humpback 

 whale. In addition to utilizing 

 the whales for meal and oil, it 

 is believed that suitable parts of 

 the whale meat will be chopped 

 and frozen for mink or other 

 animal food. This venture is the 

 first attempt to catch and proc- 

 ess whales in the United States 

 since 1953. 



For catchers attached to land 

 stations, the open season for ba- 

 leen (blue, fin, humpback, sei, 

 or minke) whales is May 1st - 

 October 31st and for sperm 

 \\ hales \piil lst-No\embei ^Oth 



