440 
BULLETIN OF THE UNITED STATES FISH COMMISSION. 
In 1894, when the writer visited the Pacific Coast, no eels were at any time seen 
in the markets of San Francisco or other cities, and the following statement, based on 
his observations, was printed in a report* embodying the data on certain phases of the 
fishing industry obtained at the time: 
Inquiries regarding the results of the attempted acclimatization of the eel ( Anguilla chrysypa ) on 
this coast are apt to elicit misleading information unless great care is exercised. In the San Francisco 
markets one learns that eels are not infrequently exposed for sale, and that both salt water and river 
fishermen catch them occasionally, hut an examination of the reported eels usually shows them to be 
lampreys. 
According to Mr. Charles Cuneo, of the American Union Fish Company, San 
Francisco, eels are occasionally caught in the vicinity of San Francisco in seines and 
other fine-meshed nets operated for other fish, but they are quite scarce. A few come 
from San Francisco Bay and a few are taken by the steamers using drag nets outside 
the Golden Gate. Mr. Cuneo says a steamer will sometimes bring in 10 or 12 pounds 
of eels. Those exposed for sale in the San Francisco markets are small, usually being 
only 10 to 12 inches long. The wholesale price is 10 to 15 cents a pound. 
In view of the hardiness and great prolificness of the eel, it is somewhat remark- 
able that it has not gained a firm hold in California and become abundant. It is, of 
course, possible that the failure to catch more of them has been due to the absence of 
suitable pots or traps, but the fact that the fish are so seldom taken with the various 
forms of apparatus now used can only be explained by their actual scarcity, and in 
their last report (1894-95) the California fish commissioners regard the eel as one of the 
fish from whose attempted introduction “ no result can be said to have come.” 
While the eel is a highly esteemed food-fish in the principal markets of the Atlantic 
States, is easily caught, and yields good returns to fishermen, it is perhaps fortunate, 
on the whole, that it has not attained abundance on the Pacific Coast. It is known to 
be very destructive to the spawn of shad and other important food fishes, and if it 
existed in large numbers in the California rivers it might seriously reduce the supply 
of salmon, striped bass, and other river fish by resorting to the spawning grounds and 
devouring the ova. 
THE CRAPPIES. 
The crappy, sac-a-lai, or bachelor (Pomoxis annularis ), and the strawberry bass 
or calico bass ( Pomoxis sparoides ), have been distributed in California, Washington, 
and Idaho, from the United States Fish Commission station at Quincy, 111. The first 
plants were made in Washington. In 1890, 285 yearling crappies were placed in Lake 
Washington, near Seattle; the following year 220 were put in Loon Lake and 50 in 
Liberty Lake, near Spokane ; in 1892, 25 were planted in Deer Lake near Loon Lake, 
and in 1893, 18 were put in Shepherd Lake. A plant of 388 yearlings was made in 
1892 in the Boise River, near Boise City, Idaho. In Lake Cuyamaca, near San Diego, 
Cal., 285 yearlings were deposited in 1891. The largest consignment was made in 
1895, when 50,000 fry were sent to the California fish commission station at Sisson. 
Mr. Babcock writes that none of these lived. 
While most of the fish belonging to this genus which have been distributed m 
western waters are known to have been of the first-named species, it is certain that 
* Notes on a Reconnoissance of the Fisheries of the Pacific Coast of the United States in 1894. 
Bulletin U. S. Fish Commission, 1894, pp. 223-288. 
