PACIFIC COAST: CALIFORNIA. 611 



net. They then go slowly ahead, letting out rope according to the strength of the breeze. When 

 the net is well " set" on the bottom, full sail is made and the net dragged for 3 or 4 miles. The 

 sail is then lowered and each boat pulls in one wiug of the net, running the rope over a block 

 temporarily rigged up in the stern of the boat. As soon as the bag is reached it is pulled up 

 alongside of one boat, the slit in the bag is opened and the fish scooped out with a dip-net and 

 ranged along the deck on each side. The marketable fish are then chosen out and sorted and the 

 remainder thrown overboard. On Thursdays the net is dragged twice, to procure an extra supply 

 for the Friday's market ; on other days but once. 



FISH CAUGHT. Comparatively few of the fish are alive when taken from the bag, and prob- 

 ably none of those thrown overboard live. More than half the flounders caught are less than 8 

 iuches in length and are thrown away. Most of these, however, are Hippoglossoides exilis, a small 

 and nearly worthless species, and are adult fish. I saw very few flounders less than 6 inches long; 

 in fact, there were but few of the very young of any species in the net. 



The single catch I saw, I estimated roughly at 3 tons ; their catches often far exceed this in 

 weight. Fear of glutting the market is the only limit placed on the amount they take. 



A rough estimate of the proportions in which the various kinds were caught would be : Por- 

 ichthys porosissimus, one- third ; flounders, one-third ; tomcod and OpModon, one-sixth; small cottoids 

 and chiroids, &c., one-sixth. 



The drag-nets destroy and waste immense quantities of fish, doubtless amounting to several 

 hundred tons per year. Comparatively few of these, however, are immature fish, and the greater 

 part is composed of species unmarketable, either through small size or repulsive appearance. Their 

 fishing cannot yet have interfered with the fishing carried on in the immediate vicinity of San 

 Francisco, as their grounds are from 25 to 35 miles from the city. The reason that the other fish- 

 ermen are so bitterly opposed to the use of these nets is that, by means of them, a few men can 

 bring such quantities of fish to market as greatly to reduce the price, the drag-nets alone capturing 

 more fish than all taken in the bay by other modes. The drag-nets however, do not interfere in the 

 least witli the trawl-line fishing for rockfish in deep water. Although considered as a temporary 

 method, these nets do but little harm and have as yet probably not materially decreased the 

 amount of fish in the vicinity of San Francisco, there is no doubt that, if continued long enongh, 

 they will do so. It is certainly the most wasteful method of fishing I know. The use of such nets 

 should be discontinued altogether, or the nets required to be of such coarse mesh as to allow the 

 small fish to pass through. 



As soon as the " paranzellas " were introduced a large reduction took place in the price of such 

 fish as they caught. Before their introduction tomcod sold, wholesale, for from 25 cents to 40 

 cents per pound, and they never reached a lower price than 8 cents per pound in the summer. 

 Parophryu vetnliis sometimes in the winter brought as high as 80 cents per pound, and in summer 

 sold for from 10 cents to 15 cents per pound. Wholesale prices now never range higher in winter 

 than 20 or 25 cents for Parophrys, and 8 or 10 cents for tomcod, and in summer, 4 cents per 

 pound for the former and 3, 4, or 5 cents for the latter. Of course part of this is due to the same 

 causes that have lowered the prices of all articles, but the greater part of the reduction was caused 

 by the drag-nets. They have thus far been rather a blessing than otherwise to the people of San 

 Francisco. 



The following species were seen in the nets of the '' parauzella" fishermen : 



Hippoglossoides exilis. Pleuronectes stellatus. 



Hippoglossoides jordani, Psettichthys melanostictus. 



Parophrys rctuhts. Citharichthys sordidus. 



