FISHERIES OF THE PACIFIC COAST. 
43 
few indentations or lagoons. Bordering the shore, about half a mile 
distant from the land, is a kelp bed with an average width of upwards 
of 400 fathoms. 
Stretching parallel with the coast, at an average distance of about 20 
or 25 miles, is a group of rocky islands, some high, rugged, and moun- 
tainous, and all irregular in outline. These are the islands of San 
Miguel, Santa Rosa, Santa Cruz, and Anacapa. Santa Barbara and 
San Nicholas lie farther out, about 70 miles from the town of Santa 
Barbafa. San Miguel is one of the smallest, being 6J miles long and 
2J miles in extreme width. Santa Rosa is about 13 miles long by 9 
miles wide, and contains about 50,000 acres ; it is 27 miles south- 
westerly from Santa Barbara. Santa Cruz lies to the east of Santa 
Rosa, and is about 20 miles distant from Santa Barbara. It is 20 miles 
long a,nd its extreme width is about 5 miles. Off its eastern end is the 
small island of Anacapa. Between the first four and the mainland 
is Santa Barbara Channel, an important fishing ground for surface- 
swimming species. The water is deep, however, and not suited to 
bottom fishing. These islands bear an important relation to the future 
development of the fisheries of this region, as will be seen further on. 
Santa Barbara is a noted summer watering-place, located on a beau- 
tiful, slightly crescent-shaped shore, with a long, sloping sandy beach, 
and stretches of high hills along its sides. A long pier built on piles is 
a landing for steamers here; it extends into the bay opposite the town, 
and affords facilities to the fishing boats that they could not find on the 
beach, where the water is shallow and the surf breaks with consider- 
able force except in the mildest weather, A wharf was first built in 
1868, but the railroad did not enter the town until 1887. The bay is ex- 
posed to southerly winds, from the west nearly around to the opposite 
point, but affords a good shelter when the wind is north of east or west, 
as is usually the case during a greater part of the year. 
Nearly parallel with the beach, and distant from one-third to one half 
mile, is a broad belt of giant kelp that floats at the surface, and is so 
dense that channels have to be cut through it for the steamers. This 
serves the purpose of a breakwater, when the wind is from southwest to 
southeast, and makes it possible for the fishing boats to ride safely and 
with comparative ease at anchor when otherwise they would have to be 
hauled out on the beach or hoisted to the wharf, at great additional 
labor to the fishermen. 
Fishing centers . — The only town in this county that can at present 
be considered a fishing center is Santa Barbara. In 1880, when Pro- 
fessor Jordan visited this region, some fishing was prosecuted from 
Goleta, and one man occasionally fished from the wharf or with a drag 
seine at Carpenteria, where fishing smacks were also built. For many 
years crews of Italians and Portuguese located at Goleta Point and 
near Point Conception to prosecute the whale fishery; but notwith- 
standing whales are still reported to occur in this region, the fishery 
