PACIFIC COAST: CALIFORNIA. 613 



These fishes are iiot taken to market, but are soaked in briiie and spread 011 mats to dry in 

 the sun. When dried they sell at less than 2 cents per pound, the Leptocoltus being nearly all 

 head. The catch on hand during my visit must Lave contained fully half a ton of these small fish. 



Besides the fish, which are merely incidental, and the shrimp, the amount of which, no esti- 

 mate could be formed, many clams ( Mya sp. ?) and crabs are sent to the city market, and sold in 

 the same way as the shrimp in the Vallejo- street market. 



Another similar colony of ten Chinamen exists 2 miles farther south, and various others are 

 farther up the bay, in San Mateo and Santa Clara Counties; still others in Marin and Contra Costa 

 Counties. It is said that no diminution in the number of shrimp results from the continuous 

 fishing, but the fishes are nearly exterminated in the bay. 



Some prawn or large shrimp are prepared in Chinatown, and sold at 30 cents a pound, by 

 removing the carapace and arranging them on two sticks of cane, which pass through the flesh, 

 eight or ten on a string, arranged ladder fashion. Others are sold with the carapace and legs 

 removed, simply as meats. 



The total catch of shrimp and prawn is estimated at 30,000 pounds. 



THE CRAB FISHERY. The details of this fishery are discussed by Mr. Eathbun in another 

 section of this report. The principal species marketed in San Francisco is the common crab 

 (Cancer magister). Both the red crab (C. productus) and the rock crab (G. antennarius) are good 

 for food, but the common crab, being the most abundant, is more largely taken. The yellow and 

 purple shore crabs, which are of small size, are eaten only by the Chinese. The common crabs are 

 caught along the sandy beaches on the San Francisco side of the bay, especially on the south side 

 of the Golden Gate, between the city and the sea. They are taken in immense numbers in seines, 

 together with many shoal- water species offish, yet the supply seems to be undiminished. Three 

 or four good-sized crabs sell in the market at retail for 25 cents. The annual sales are estimated 

 at 300,000 by count, weighing on an average about one pound each, and netting the fishermen 

 about 15,000. The large red rock crab of the Farralone Islands is sometimes marketed in San 

 Francisco as a curiosity. These crabs were formerly sold as high as $10 each. 



SAN FRANCISCO As A MARKET. A description of the markets of San Francisco will be found 

 in another chapter. 



A little more than half the total amount of fish brought into the San Francisco market comes 

 from the counties of Monterey, Santa Cruz, Contra Costa, Solano, and Marin. 



It is difficult to make an exact estimate, but it is probable that the total amount taken annu- 

 ally by fishermen living in San Francisco County does not vary far from SjoOOjOOO 1 pounds. 



THE SEA-TURTLE AND OTHER FISHERIES. About 600 sea-turtles are annually brought up to 

 San Francisco from Mexico on steamers, and occasionally on schooners. They average 175 pounds 

 in weight apiece, and sell for about $4 each. One schooner in 1879 brought 190 sea-turtles. Part 

 were peddled out, and the balance were sold to San Francisco dealers at S7 cents each. 



Frogs are collected by two or three Frenchmen in Marin, San Mateo. and Kern Counties, and 

 sell for $1.75 to $4 a dozen. 



The terrapins of the San Francisco market come principally from the San Joaquin Valley. 



No satisfactory estimate of the abalone business can be made. Many coasting boats from San 

 Francisco take in cargoes of them, and many men in various trades occasionally buy up a load on 

 speculation. 



There will be this year (1880) about twenty or thirty boats fishing for salmon in the bay, as 

 soon as the season commences. Very little attention is paid to the law concerning the close season 



