REPORT OF THE FISH AND GAME COMMISSION. 5d 
fish canning industry. However, there is one regretable feature in the 
law and that is that herring and buck shad were exempted from the tax 
on the ground that the buck shad were of little value and that the her- 
ring were being canned as an experiment with little chance of the experi- 
ment proving profitable. In reality, the two fish were being taken, not 
in an experimental manner, but by the millions of pounds. The shad 
were already showing alarming signs of depletion under the heavy 
fishing. The herring were not showing signs of depletion as yet, but, as 
explained above, investigations need to be made in advance if we are to 
detect depletion before it is evidenced by a reduced catch and the per- 
sons who are taking the people’s property for their personal benefit 
should pay for that privilege, at least enough to do the work necessary 
to preserve the fishery for the state’s future generations. 
But, we are not neglecting the fishery on that account. We are doing 
special investigation work on the herring as it is very important that 
data be collected and observations made as early in the development of a 
fishery as possible if we are to get the continual maximum production 
from that fishery. 
With the revenue derived from the fisheries tax we have been able to 
go ahead and provide for the patrol work necessary to enforce the 
fisheries laws and to provide for the investigations necessary for the 
conservation of the fisheries. 
The gathering of statistics and the compiling of data has necessitated 
the employment of three new men. Furthermore, the work has been 
greatly facilitated by the establishment of branch offices at San Pedro 
and San Diego. The office at San Pedro is located on Fisherman’s 
Wharf and here the statistical files for the southern part of the state 
will be kept. This will be a headquarters where information may be 
obtained by fishermen or anyone else interested in the fishing or kelp 
industries. A laboratory for the use of our fishery experts will also be 
established at this office. 
For patrol and investigation work it was necessary to provide a sea- 
going launch for southern waters. This was done. On the seventeenth 
of February, 1918, the Fish and Game Commission finished and put into 
commission its new patrol boat ‘‘ Albacore’’ to be used in the waters of 
southern California. We have for several years needed a boat in that 
section of the state for patrol and investigation work, but the very rapid 
growth of the fisheries south of Point Concepcion during the last ten 
years, coupled with the fact that the harvesting of kelp had to be regu- 
lated, made it imperative that the boat be built at once. 
The ‘‘Albacore’’ is a well designed and sturdily-built boat, well 
_ adapted for the work she will have to do. She is 60 feet long overall, 
with: a 12-foot beam and draws 5 feet of water. She is powered with a 
