FORTY-FIFTH BIENNIAL REPORT 



75 



. . . worm waler of 1957 and 1958 thinned most kelp beds south of 



Pt. Conception. This is well illustrated in the J 958 phofo, ofaove, of El 



Capilan Point taken at 10,800 fee* elevation. Note the track of fhe 



kelp cutler through the center of the bed. 



— Fish and Game Photo 



this year's bulletin. The primary difference between 

 bulletin and circular figures is that the circular records 

 final case pack, processor records, and preliminary 

 landing figures, while the bulletin presents final land- 

 ings and the value of these landings for all California 

 ports. 



KELP 



In 1955, the California Fish and Game Commission 

 formed a standing committee that is now known as 

 the Kelp Study Committee. This group has been in- 

 strumental in establishing co-operative working agree- 

 ments between members of the kelp and sportfishing 



industries. Perhaps more important, the Department of 

 Fish and Game, acting on the recommendation of the 

 Kelp Committee, has set up a five-year kelp study pro- 

 gram with the University of California. The re- 

 searchers doing this work are headquartered at Scripps 

 Institution of Oceanography, La Jolla. 



Two years of research by this team of investigators 

 have produced some important answers in the field of 

 kelp physiology and ecology. A third phase of the 

 work, now about one year old, is aimed at discover- 

 ing some of the more important relationships between 

 the kelp plant and its attendant fishlife. 



In Alay, 1958, a series of aerial photographs was 

 taken of the coastal kelp beds between the Mexican 

 boundary and Pt. Arguello. Comparisons of these 

 photos with similar photos taken during the last bien- 

 nium showed some changes in the densities of many 

 of the more southerly beds. These changes were 

 especially apparent with respect to thinning during 

 the past two years. This thinning is thought to be, for 

 the most part, a result of extensive warm water condi- 

 tions during the last 16 to 18 months of the biennium. 



SPECIAL PROJECTS 



With the start of the year 1958 new positions were 

 established at the Stanford and Terminal Island offices. 

 The object was to designate one biologist at each loca- 

 tion to be available for such jobs as did not fall into 

 the pattern of the organization as now set up. These 

 unscheduled and often pressing items frequently in- 

 terrupted the work of the men assigned to the larger 

 and longer term studies. 



One of the jobs done by the special project men 

 included collection of shellfish samples for analysis of 

 gonyaulax poison. Due to exceptionally warm ocean 

 temperatures in the fall of 1957 there was a prevalence 

 of red water along the whole Pacific Coast. During 

 the summer such occurrences are not remarkable but 

 this year it continued in a lesser degree on through 

 the winter. Even bay dwelling clams picked up appre- 

 ciable amounts of poison. However, no concentrations 

 were found that required a quarantine. 



Another special project consisted of a trip at the 

 importer's expense to New York State to inspect a 

 shipment of oysters destined for California waters. The 

 possibility of having the oysters disqualified for plant- 

 ing after arrival more than offset the importer's trouble 

 and expense of sending a biologist clear across the 

 country. 



A project involving the disposal of radioactive waste 

 was also completed. One method of getting rid of 

 waste from industries working on fissionable materials 

 is to sink the material in the deeper parts of the ocean. 

 A series of sample containers was made and taken to 

 an area off the Farallone Islands. Here they were 

 lowered from the vessel N. B. Scofleld to determine 

 their resistance to the tremendous pressures of deep 



