Heiring fis/itng with a beat/t iei/)e iicuf Marshall, Tomales Bay. 



(Fish and Game Photo by J. B. Phillips) 



lowing: "During the period from September I, 1955, 

 to March 31, 1956, the total amount of anchovies 

 which may be taken or received for canning, includ- 

 ing canned pet food, shall not be more than 21,000 

 tons. During the period from April 1, 1956, to March 

 31, 1957, the total amount of anchovies which may 

 be taken or received for canning, including canned 

 pet food shall not be more than 35,000 tons." 



In addition to this regulation on total catch, legis- 

 lation was enacted to protect the young anchovy. The 

 law now declares: "No anchovies less than five inches 

 in length measured from tip of snout to tip of tail 

 may be purchased for any purpose except for use as 

 bait; provided that the allowable percentage of under- 

 sized anchovies which may be contained in any load 

 or lot purchased shall be not more than 25 percent by 

 w eight of all anchovies in said load or lot." 



This and similar legislation on the California yel- 

 lov\tail mark the first time that total annual bag limits 

 have been placed on any commercially taken Cali- 

 fornia marine fish. 



New Techniques 



During the biennium new techniques were insti- 

 tuted to maintain a close check on the relative health 

 of California's anchovy population. Since 1955, weekly 

 samples of bait have been collected from the major 

 sportfishing landings from Morro Bay to San Diego. 

 Length frequency and age analyses of these samples 

 have been found to reflect accurately the sizes and 

 ages of the bait utilized throughout the year along 

 the coast. Valuable information on the relative 

 strength of incoming year classes in Southern Cali- 

 fornia will now be available. 



In former years, young sardines formed an im- 

 portant portion of the California live bait catch. The 

 bait sampling program will also lead to accurate esti- 

 mates of the relative numbers of juvenile sardines 

 which move inshore each year to the Southern Cali- 

 fornia nursery grounds. 



In addition to the bait sampling program, and per- 

 haps more spectacular, is the recently instituted series 



of airplane spotting flights designed to assess the 

 abundance and distribution of anchovies as well as 

 sardines and mackerel in coastal waters. .'Mthough 

 still in the developmental stages, this program of 

 identifying and estimating abundance of various 

 pelagic species shows great promise, both as a sup- 

 plement to vessel surveys as well as a new research 

 tool of its ow n. 



PACIFIC HERRING 



The Pacific herring fishery has alwa\s been of 

 relativel\- minor importance in California. But, with 

 the "disappearance" of the sardine from the coast 

 of California, attention has been focused upon all 

 other pelagic species, the Pacific herring not excluded. 



The herring catch that had remained around 300 

 tons yearly from 1920-1947 rose sharply to over 4,000 

 tons in 1948. From 1948 to 1956 the catch fluctuated 

 w idel\-. .-Xs the abundance of sardines and other 

 pelagic fishes diminished, the demand for herring 

 rose; and when other more preferred species, such as 

 the anchovy and mackerel were abundant, the demand 

 for herring decreased. The peak catch of herring 

 came in 1952 when over 5,000 tons were landed. 



Unfortunately the herring processed for human 

 consumption met serious sales resistance. Adult her- 

 ring become soft and do not process well when sub- 

 jected to cooking pressures and temperatures. As soon 

 as this was discovered, several members of the indus- 

 try applied to the Fish and Game Commission for 

 permits to reduce herring into meal and oil. 



Short Term Study 



\'ery little was known about the status of the 

 herring population in California so, in 1954, the com- 

 mission ordered a short-term intensive stud\-. The 

 information from this study would be used to deter- 

 mine whether reduction permits should be granted. 

 The stud\- was completed in 1955 and the results 

 were published in early 1956. Generall\' the findings 

 were as follows: 



The herring population in California waters is of 

 relatively small magnitude compared to the vast herring 

 stocks in Canadian waters where from 100-200 thou- 

 sand tons are taken annually. Estimates based on the 

 numbers of eggs deposited by the total spawning 

 population during the spawning season (January to 

 March) in Tomales and San Francisco Ba\s indicated 

 a total population of around 16,000 tons. Admittedl_\' 

 the data used to compute the California population 

 are rough approximations, but the results do indicate 

 a population of such small magnitude that excessive 

 take of fish on the spawning grounds would threaten 

 the resource. 



Herring Easily Caught 



Of primar\- interest in terms of management is the 

 fact that prespawning schools of herring are easily 

 caught in Tomales Ba>'. Boats equipped with round 



