232 
BULLETIN OF THE UNITED STATES FISH COMMISSION. 
THE SALMON INDUSTRY. 
CALIFORNIA. 
General importance . — Salmon are tlie most important fish of California, and their 
cap)tiu'e and utilization constitute one of the most prominent industries of the State. 
Among' all the fishery products of the State, salmon are surpassed in value only by 
oysters, whales, and shrimps. All the species of salmon found on the west coast 
occur in the waters of the State in the proper seasons, but the most abundant, gen- 
erally distributed, and important is the chi nook or quinnat salmon {Oncorhynclms 
chouieha). While considerable quantities of salmon are taken each year in Eel Eiver 
in Humboldt County, and in Smith and Klamath rivers in Del Korte County, the 
fishing-grounds which give to the salmon fishery the prominence it has attained are 
the Sacramento Eiver, and Suisun, San Pablo, and San Francisco bays; of these the 
principal ground is the Sacramento Elver in Contra Costa and Solano counties. 
Salmon in the Sacramento Biver . — The salmon taken in the important fisheries of 
the lower Sacramento Elver are either shi^iped fresh to market or are sold to the 
canneries located at Benicia, Black Diamond, and Chipps Island. In the quantity 
and value of the salmon output, tlie Sacramento ranks next to the Columbia among 
the rivers of this coast. 
The spring run of Chinook salmon in this stream usually begins about the middle 
of April and continues until the middle of May. In 1894, however, the run began 
earlier and kept up longer than usual; fish were lauded at the canneries on April 4, 
and the supply lasted into June. As late as May 28 the run was very large, over 1,050 
salmon being received at one cannery on that date as a result of only half a day’s 
fishing. At the beginning of the season the run was light, and it was predicted that 
the catch would be smaller than last year, but afterwards the supiily increased, and 
the close of the season witnessed a larger production than for five years. 
The weekly close season from Saturday noon to Sunday midnight is generally 
observed and vigorously enforced, and is, without doubt, one of the most beneficial 
regulations affecting the fisheries of the State. The concentration of the fisheries in 
the proximity of the canneries permits a very large proportion of the fish that ascend 
the river on Saturday and Sunday to escape capture and molestation and to reach the 
headwaters of the Sacramento or its tributaries. 
There seems no evidence of any improvement in the salmon fishery of the San 
Joaquin Eiver. The physical conditions appear very unfavorable and distasteful to 
the migrating salmon. According to the reports of fishermen and members of the 
California Fish Commission, nearly all the fish which begin the ascent of the San 
Joaquin are diverted when they reach the Georgiana Slough, the uppermost path of 
communication between the waters of the Sacramento and San Joaquin rivers. They 
enter the slough and pass into the Sacramento, and seem to be attracted by the much 
cooler and muddier waters of that stream. This is in marked contrast with the 
behavior of the striped bass in the same waters. 
In a subsequent chapter tire quantities of salmon shipped to San Francisco dealers 
from the Sacramento Eiver in 1893 and 1894 are shown. The following table gives the 
number of pounds of fish utilized at the canneries. It appears that the 2 canneries 
in operation in 1894 received 543,082 more pounds of salmon than the 3 canneries 
did in 1893, and that the increase over the receipts of the same 2 canneries was 
1,255,582 pounds. 
