REPORT OF THE FISH AND GAME COMMISSION. 59 
fish business is to be materially increased in this state. The great ad- 
vance of our albacore (tuna), sardine and herring fisheries has been 
brought about by systematic advertising and at the same time by giving 
the people a clean, wholesome and attractive canned product. In the 
same manner the people can be induced to use in their fresh state the 
many excellent varieties which are now scarcely used. 
Kelp. 
Just before the 1917 session of the legislature, those companies inter- 
ested in the harvesting of kelp for the extraction of potash, met 
together for the purpose of obtaining state regulations for the cutting 
of the beds. They elected to have the Fish and Game Commission 
handle it for them, for the reason that the Fish and Game Commission 
had jurisdiction over the kelp and for the further reason that this 
commission could do the patrol work necessary and regulate the cutting 
better and more economically than any other institution of the state. 
Together with the kelp companies, the United States Department of 
Agriculture and the Scripps Institution, which has from the first been 
identified with the government in the early surveys of the kelp beds, 
the bill was worked out which was finally passed by the legislature. 
We had great difficulty in drawing up a satisfactory law for the reason 
that the Fish and Game Commission does not have discretionary power 
and could not, it was decided, apportion the beds to the companies. 
Any ruling issued would have to be general and apply to all companies 
alike. This has been overcome in a large part by a ‘‘gentlemen’s 
agreement.’’ Arbitrators were chosen from the Fish and Game Com- 
mission and the Seripps Institution to settle disputes. So far the 
arrangement has worked better than would have been expected, but if 
it should happen that the kelp beds are overtaxed and the competition 
between companies becomes too great, the Fish and Game Commission 
should have the power to apportion the beds, otherwise regulatory laws 
would have to be passed which would necessarily be compleated and at 
best would not meet the conditions adequately. The original bill pro- 
vided for a tax of one and one-half cents per ton of wet kelp cut, the 
revenue to go to the Fish and Game Commission, to cover the expense 
of regulation, patrol and scientific investigation work. The bill was 
amended so that one-third of the revenue would go to the state univer- 
sity fund for the Scripps Institution for kelp investigation work. 
While the kelp beds do not contain the amount of kelp estimated by 
the government, they produce enough for all the companies now oper- 
ating. About 400,000 tons a year are being cut. With the knowledge 
that is being acquired in extracting the potash and the utilization of 
by-products, it is now fairly certain that the industry will be able to 
continue even if the price of potash falls to what it was before the war. 
