ACCLIMATIZATION OF FISH IN THE PACIFIC STATES. 
457 
to the white Alaska salmon, and that he thought the association would in a year or 
two make a regular pack of striped bass. Through the courtesy of Mr. Babcock, the 
writer had an opportunity to sample a can of striped bass and was much pleased with 
the flavor of the fish as thus prepared. 
THE STRIPED BASS TRADE OF SAN FRANCISCO. 
Probably seven-eighths or more of the striped bass caught in California are sent 
to San Francisco, where the larger part of the yield is consumed; but a somewhat 
important trade in this fish is carried on by the San Francisco dealers with other 
cities and towns of the West. The wholesale dealers sell to retail dealers, hotels, and 
restaurants in San Francisco, and make consignments to Oregon, Washington, Utah, 
Nevada, Arizona, New Mexico, and Mexico, as well as to numerous California towns. 
The entire striped bass catch reaches the consumer in a fresh condition. The only 
people who eat the fish salted are the Chinese, and the quantity they consume is not 
large. Mr. Alexander remarks on this point: 
The Chinese are heavy buyers of striped bass, but they, as a rule, purchase fish inferior in quality, 
which have lain in the market much longer than they ought. Such fish can be bought comparatively 
cheap, on an average from 5 to 7 cents a pound. The Chinese method of dressing striped bass which 
are to be salted is to split them down the back, the head being left on. They are then washed and 
salted in barrels, where they remain for a week or ten days, at the end of which time they are taken 
out and dried on flakes or hang on lines arranged on the tops of houses or in back yards. This is the 
usual way Chinese cure all kinds of fish not eaten fresh. 
The iuquiries of Mr. Wilcox in 1S92 showed that the receipts of striped bass by 
the San Francisco dealers were about 5,000 pounds in 1890, 25,000 pounds in 1891, and 
50,000 pounds in 1892; these figures are based on estimates furnished by the different 
dealers. Data for 1893 and 1894 were obtained from the books of the dealers by Mr. 
Babcock, of the California fish commission, and the writer. The actual quantity 
handled by wholesale dealers was 80,793 pounds in 1893 and 149,997 pounds in 1894. 
The dealers’ receipts, by months, are shown in the following table, which illustrates 
the times when the fish are most abundant: 
Statement of the number of pounds of striped bass bandied by San Francisco dealers in 189S and 1894. 
Months. 1893. 1894. 
3,448 
3,087 
5, 403 
8, 351 
7, 232 
4, 353 
2,950 
2, 055 
8, 507 
6, 820 
10, 473 
17, 514 
14, 177 
12, 572 
9, 002 
9, 638 
9,413 
4,820 
7, 521 
6,863 
10, 218 
23, 192 
17, 950 
24, 631 
February 
Mav 
October 
November 
December 
Total . . . 
80. 793 
149, 997 
PRICES OF STRIPED BASS TO FISHERMEN AND DEALERS. 
The prices first paid for striped bass were, like those for shad, very high. Even 
as late as 1888 the ruling price in the San Francisco market was $1 per pound. By 
April, 1890, however, on account of the increasing abundance of the fish, the price 
