456 REPORT OP COMMISSIONER OF FISH AND FISHERIES. 
the Italian fishermen, the salt-fish trade being monopolized by the Chi- 
nese. The'Italians fish with both hand lines and line trawls, but chiefly 
with the former on account of their cheapness. Trammel nets are fre- 
quently used among the rocks close inshore, and fish that will not 
readily take the hook are often caught witli them. A trammel net 30 
fathoms long and 2J fathoms or 40 meshes deep costs $25. A trawl of 
500 hooks, completely rigged, and including the basket in which it is 
coiled, is valued at $5. Baskets are used on this coast for the storage 
of the trawls in preference to the tubs of the Atlantic coast. 
The trawl hooks used by these fishermen are the same as those em- 
ployed by the French fishermen on the Grand Bank and by the fisher- 
men on the coast of Spain. The gob-stick is unknown, and when the 
fish swallows the hook, or is otherwise hard caught, a quick jerk of the 
ganging causes the hook to straighten out and it is then readily ex- 
tracted. All such hooks have to be bent again to the proper shape 
before they can be used, but this is readily done during the baiting of 
the trawl by means of a knife, or of two small nails driven into a board 
about half an inch apart. By the latter method the point of the hook 
is placed against one of the nails and the bow over the other, when the 
bending is easily accomplished. A device of this kind is kept ready 
for use at all times, and the fishermen claim that it takes much less time 
to bend a hook than to replace it with a new one. 
The best fishing about the islands is found between the Northern and 
Southern Coronados in 25 fathoms. Close to the southern side of the 
northern island the water is deeper, having an average depth of 45 
fathoms. In this latter place red rock-cod are the principal fish taken. 
About 5 miles south of the southern island is a small shoal ground some- 
times resorted to by San Diego fishermen. These two “ spots ” are the 
only offshore fishing grounds known in the immediate vicinity of San 
Diego. 
The Italian fishing boat previously referred to was a primitive affair 
about 18 feet long, 7 feet wide, and 2 feet deep, with a flat bottom. 
The greatest breadth was at the stern. The sleeping and eating quar- 
ters were very wretched, consisting of the bottom of the boat, among 
nets, trawls, hand lines, buoy lines, old anchors, rusty iron kettles, and 
other implements. An iron kettle was used as a stove, somewhat after 
the manner of the French Canadian fishermen of the Gulf of St. Law- 
rence. The hand lines employed were as rudely constructed as some of 
those made by the Alaskan Indians. Many sizes of lines were noticed 
with pieces of lead attached. Each line is generally provided with from 
3 to 5 hooks, fastened to short snoods arranged one above the other 
about 18 inches apart. This style of gear is found about Kadiak, 
Alaska. Demijohns of various sizes, tied to the buoy lines by their 
handles, serve in place of keg buoys. The reason for using the former, 
as well as many other inconvenient devices, is their greater cheapness. 
Mackerel . — While in San Diego several fishermen were consulted who 
