FISHERIES OF THE PACIFIC COAST. 
143 
Methods of fishing, shipping products, etc . — The methods of fishing are 
similar to those already described under the head of market fishing. 
The seines are operated from shore, and the gill nets are set in the 
ordinary manner, both as set and as drift nets. The bulk of the fish 
are shipped to wholesale dealers in San Francisco, who sell the prod- 
ucts on commission to other dealers or hucksters, or ship them to the 
interior or to towns across the bay. For transportation, the fish are 
packed, heads up, in long wooden boxes about a foot deep with an 
average capacity of 125 pounds. Instead of using ice, wet sacks or 
gunny cloth are placed over each box to keep the fish moist. The nets 
are generally hauled early in the day and shipments made by the morn- 
ing train, so that the fish reach the city a few hours after being caught. 
Men, women, and children dig clams, but only the men (native Cali- 
fornians) engage regularly in this fishery. The average number of men 
employed in 1888 was 20. The clams are sold to the local dealers for 
$1.50 per sack of 70 pounds (4 wooden bucketfuls), the fishermen being- 
paid in merchandise. The clams are emptied into bins built on the edge 
of the bay, and usually 75 to 100 bushels are kept on hand to supply 
orders from San Francisco. 
The following tables show the extent of the fisheries of Tomales Bay 
in 1888 ; but these figures, as well as those for Russian River, are in. 
eluded in the general tables for San Francisco Bay and vicinity : 
Persons employed. 
Country. 
1 
Nativity. 
National- ! 
itv. 
United States 
20 
27 I 
Austria 
H 
11 1 
Portugal 
2 
1 
Italy 
22 
16 
Mexico 
1 
1 
Total •. 
56 ; 56 1 
Apparatus. 
Designation 
No. 
Value. 1 
Boats 
21 
$6, 300 
Gill nets 
210 
5, 920 
Seines 
16 
2, 000 
Total 
14, 220 
Products and values. 
Products. 
Pounds. 
Value. 
Salmon, fresh . m 
Other fish, fresh 
20, 000 
327, 707 
81,915 
$1. 000 
15, 885 
2, 048 
Clams 
Total 
429, 622 
18, 933 
