452 
BULLETIN OF THE UNITED STATES FISH COMMISSION. 
Joaquin. Nearly all of the fish which begin the ascent of the latter stream finally 
get into the Sacramento by way of the sloughs. 
Mr. Alexander could learn of the capture of no striped bass distant from the 
California shores. The fish seems to follow the coast closely. If it wandered far to 
sea, either in schools or in scattered bodies, the fishermen would probably soon know 
of it, as hundreds of trammel nets are set in the open waters off the Golden Gate. 
The felucca fishermen who resort to the grounds around the Farallone Islands, about 
30 miles offshore, have never reported striped bass in that vicinity. 
SPAWNING SEASON AND GROUNDS. 
The observations thus far made on the spawning of the striped bass in California 
waters are not conclusive, but what has been determined indicates a protracted 
spawning period such as characterizes the shad in the same region. The inquiries of 
Mr. Alexander and the testimony of dealers and fishermen seem to show that the 
principal spawning time is from April to June; but Mr. Babcock, of the California 
fish commission, who has devoted considerable attention to this fish, has found 
striped bass in the San Francisco markets containing ripe spawn in each month 
between December and May. On May 26, 1894, he examined a large fish with fully 
matured ova, and during the same month the writer saw a number of specimens, in the 
San Francisco markets, from which the eggs were running. 
The delta of the Sacramento and San Joaquin rivers undoubtedly includes the 
principal breeding-grounds of the striped bass. The tide waters, the sloughs, and 
the lagoons are well adapted to the fish. In the tule waters, to which reference was 
made in treating of the shad, striped bass are found at all seasons and are generally 
believed to be there for the purpose of spawning. At Jersey Landing, on the lower 
San Joaquin River, the fishermen find bass nine months in the year and always get 
more fish there than in the united stream below Black Diamond. 
Small striped bass 4 to 5 inches long are frequently caught in drag seines in and 
oft the mouths of sloughs, and Chinamen also catch them in their fyke nets, according 
to Mr. Alexander. 
The California fish commissioners, in their report for 1891-92, state that the striped 
bass should be protected while on their spawning-grounds and that their capture 
under 2 pounds in weight should be prohibited. 
ABUNDANCE OF THE STRIPED BASS. 
The increase in the abundance of the striped bass in San Francisco Bay and 
tributaries has been uninterrupted and rapid. While the fish is far less numerous 
than the shad and will probably never rival that species in abundance, the appear- 
ances are that in a few years the supply will exceed the demand. Between 1889 and 
1892 the yield of striped bass in California increased 250 per cent. In 1893 the 
quantity handled by the San Francisco dealers was 5 times greater than the entire 
catch of the State in 1889 and 14' times greater than the total output in 1892. In 1894 
the receipts of the dealers were over 80 per cent greater than in the previous year. 
An idea of the abundance of the fish may be gained from the following statement 
communicated by Mr. Babcock: On June 19, 1894, the fishermen struck a school of 
striped bass on the Berkeley Flats in San Francisco Bay; on June 20 one boat caught 
1,500 fish and the other boats made large hauls. These fish weighed on an average 6 
