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CALIFORNIA 
FISH“°GAME 


“CONSERVATION OF WILD LIFE THROUGH EDUCATION” 


Volume 8 Sacramento, April, 1922 Number 2 


HATCHERY NUMBER 


BOARD OF FISH AND GAME COMMISSIONERS. 


Commissioners appointed by the Governor, by and with the consent of the Senate. 
Term at pleasure of Governor. No compensation. 


i. “My NEWBERT;> President. 22s Se eee Sacramento 
M; Jz CONNELE,. Commissioner]: 2002 es 2s ee Sere Bae eee eg Los Angeles 
EH. LBOSQUI, Commissioner=222 2202 et ee ee ee San Francisco 
GEORGE NEADLH, Executive: ‘Officer. 2.5223 eee Sacramento 
J. S. HUNTER, Assistant Executive Officer___-__-_-__.-__--.____-_ San Francisco 
R.{D.- DUKE, vAttomey= 22s oi a ee ae ae Eee San Francisco 
DEPARTMENT OF FISHCULTURE. 

W. H. SHEBLEY,.In°-Charge Mishculture=2.23-2 22 =e eee Sacramento 
H.W. HUNT Mield'Superintendent=— 2 253550 ees eee eee Sacramento 
J HORORRG, VAssistants 235208 Cb i a ee Sacramento 
A: bs DONEN.UBish “hadderinspector 2: 2 Sis Se ase eee eee Sacramento 
A. BD: CULVER; :Screen (inspectors sis. 6 eee eee Sacramento 
M. K. SPALDING, Assistant in Charge of Construction.______________ Sacramento 
G. H. LAMBSON, Superintendent Mount Shasta Hatchery and Klamath River 

SS Bev EN rag as ea I at eS ae a Sisson 
W. O. FASSETT, Superintendent Fort Seward Hatchery, Hel River, Ukiah, 

andaSnow. Mountain Stations 2222 ee 3 ee a ae ee ee Ukiah 
G. McCLOUD, Jr., Superintendent Mount Whitney Hatchery and Cottonwood 

BE CSTS BASS ee Co 0 Yaga alee ma el ea Dive 8 ee sneer He ST Uh as Sr ek Independence 
G. E. WEST, Foreman in Charge Tahoe and Mount Tallac Hatcheries____Tallac 
C. NIXON, Foreman Mount Shasta Hatchery________-___--_-_-=—------=_— Sisson 
KE. V. CASSELL, Foreman in Charge Fall Creek Hatchery_________-_______ Copco 
L. J. STINNETT, Foreman in Charge Bogus Creek Station________________ Copco 
J. C. BRANDENBURG, Foreman in Charge Bear Lake and North Creek 

ETB Te RS Se eR eee EN AI ee RE See pe Me a San Bernardino 
GUY TABLER, Foreman in Charge Wawona Hatchery_______-____ ____. Wawona 
CHAS. L. FRAME, Foreman in Charge Brookdale Hatchery___________ Brookdale 
J. LANDY, Foreman in Charge Domingo Springs and Clear Creek Hatch- 

TICS cece bo ER i 2 ee Seed a or a ee Mineral 
J. C. LEWIS, Foreman in Charge Fort Seward Hatchery_-_-______--__ Aldenpoint 
J. W. RICKER, Foreman in Charge Snow Mountain Station__________ Potter Valley 
J. SHEBLEY, Foreman in Charge Feather River Hatchery_____________ Johnsville 
ED. CLESSENS, Foreman in Charge Kaweah Hatchery___-_-___--__-___ Hammond 
iy. PHILLIPS, Superintendent ‘of;Car-No:-Olece ee ee eee Sisson 
G. McCLOUD, Sr., Superintendent of Car No. 02_------_--- gil LN ete Sisson 

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCIAL FISHERIES. 

N. B:- SCOFPIDLD; An Charges 22222 esa ee eee ee San Francisco 
H.-B. NIDBVER Assistant. 5 ee ee ee ae ee San Pedro 
W.. Fo THOMPSON; Assistanti i288 os 2 ee eno San Pedro 
ELMER: [-HIGGINS,; Assistant: 222sU lees 2 ee see Se eee eae San Pedro 
HARD DOWNING, SASSISta nt 225 28 See ee ee ee ee San Francisco 
S.-C DADO, ZASSISCAN tt ee Oe eae ee en ne oe ae San Francisco 
CO. 8.-BAUDER, :‘Assistant=— 250 Soe a eee ee ee Se ee ee San Pedro 
P: HS OVER; Assistants a2 208 Ree a cris Sire eee ae wee ne Monterey 
AST ;MANAHAN, Assistant: Sess 6a to ee ee ee San Diego 


DEPARTMENT OF WATER POLLUTION. 
A. M. FAIRFIELD, In Charge--___---~__-_- aps fa Bk Ber eke hoe ha San Francisco 


BUREAU OF EDUCATION, PUBLICITY AND RESEARCH. 
DR. H.. 0; BRYANT In *Chiarve. 2 oes7 eo S28 Sa ee rere Berkeley 


CALIFORNIA FISH AND GAME 


“ CONSERVATION OF WILD LIFE THROUGH EDUCATION” 


Volume 8 SACRAMENTO, APRIL, 1922 Number 2 


CONTENTS. 


Page 
A HISTORY OF FISHCULTURAL OPERATIONS IN CALIFORNIA____ 


a ay er Ene ee ee Ae Ee oe ee W. H. Shebley 62 


FISHCULTURAL DEPARTMENT PERSONNEL_____---- Harold C. Bryant 99 
THE RETURN OF MARKED KING SALMON GRILSE______ J. O. Snyder 102 
THE WHY AND HOW! OF MOUNTAIN LION HUNTING IN CALI- 
TESCO ERI NGO ANC pee ee ny ea re ne ek ed et eS ee A ee Jay Bruce 108 
BIGA CK BASS. SEE MIEING TO) MUEYXTCOt ss 2 — Se George Neale 114 
BY TO TETAS i eben te eevee ne Sete Be See Lee Te ee 2 ye Eee 118 
EPACOrE Se OBS OUIECEOBN A NG EEO EIS ts ee 8 = Bee 2 ue eS ee 131 
COMMIETEC TAMG PRES ERIE IN@USENS= ess" 4 soo ee ee 132 
TOILE PapE=tel SPL OREUNG NOME Sees ek uae Ae eee ee 13 
ONS EIRAVESUTOT Oj cI GSO) TSET Hs Rog PAIS 2 © ae 8 Eee en 185 
ME RpEIME SOR Mis ee eee PE eee ee Pe et 137 
TTS XOPs SINT IV EE CS pee eee Ba eee ie Ane Eg Se et eS oe 137 
DSS BSE LOIRE BS pep ee ee ee ees FE SR Aen Le Se Se Bers eS 157 
UL SEDH Reo BODO CLS sts eee eer ot Se be eS eel 138 
VEORAUPTON Ss ORS ISiHeAIND, GuAMin: IDA WS a=. 8 Sse feet 2 ee ad 140 


A HISTORY OF FISHCULTURAL OPERATIONS IN 
CALIFORNIA. 


By W. H. SHEBLEY, in charge Department of Fishculture. 


The California Fish Commission was created by an act of the 
legislature, entitled ‘‘ An act to provide for the restoration and preser- 
vation of fish in the waters of the state,’’ approved April 2, 1870, 

The United States Commission of Fish and Fisheries was established 
by joint resolutions of Congress, approved February 9, 1871. Califor- 
nia, therefore, had an organized fish commission nearly a year before 
the "federal government took up the work of multiplying the food fishes 
and thereby increasing the food resources of the United States. 

The object of the first endeavors of the California Fish Commission 
was the introduction and acclimatization of new species of food and 
game fishes. As eggs could be obtained more easily than adult fish, 
suitable hatcheries for the hatching of eggs became a necessity. 


17703 


62 CALIFORNIA FISH AND GAME. 


ACCLIMATIZATION SOCIETY HATCHERY. 


The California Acclimatization Society, under the supervision of Mr. 
J. G. Woodbury, first began experimenting, and had made several sue- 
cessful hatches of eggs introduced from the Eastern states previous to 
the establishment of a state fish commission. A small hatchery, situated 
near the City Hall in San Francisco, was utilized in this pioneer work. 


STATE HATCHING HOUSE AT BERKELEY. 


The first hatchery owned and operated by the state was situated on 
the grounds of the State University at Berkeley. Up to 1873 the Accli- 
matization Society actually operated this hatchery and was paid by the 
Fish Commission for the trout reared. 


CLEAR LAKE EXPERIMENTAL HATCHERY. 


In the early seventies, also, a temporary station was operated on 
Kelsey Creek, tributary to Clear Lake, for the purpose of hatching a 
shipment of whitefish sent to the California commission by the United 


Fic. 32. United States Fish Hatchery at Baird, Shasta County, in July, 1882. 
me was for many years the mcst impertant salmcn-egg collecting station in 
California. 


States Fish Commission. Hastern brook trout, landlocked salmon and 
whitefish, as well as the native varieties, were propagated with some 
success, but the location was not suitable for carrying on the work on 
a large seale. 


BAIRD HATCHERY. 


The circumstances surrounding the establishment of the first salmon 
hatchery are as follows: In 1872 the United States commission 
instructed Dr. Livingston Stone to proceed to the Pacifie Coast and 
there obtain a supply of salmon eggs from the Pacific salmon. Dr. 
Stone was at that time one of the recognized authorities on fisheulture 
in the United States. He had been engaged in the work of fisheulture 


CALIFORNIA FISH AND GAME. 63 


for a number of years in New Hampshire and other Eastern states, was 
a man of education and a close observer of all things in nature. Dr. 
Stone arrived in San Francisco in August, 1872. He could gain no 
reliable information regarding the habits of the Chinook salmon or 
where they spawned. A general impression prevailed that the spawning 
erounds were near the confluence of the Sacramento and San Joaquin 
rivers, but after an investigation of this region Dr. Stone concluded 
that the fish spawned elsewhere. Mr. Montague, chief engineer of the 
Southern Pacific Company, informed Dr. Stone that he had seen salmon 
spawning at the junction of the McCloud and the Pit rivers. At that 
time the terminus of the railroad was at Red Bluff, fifty miles from the 
spawning grounds on the McCloud River. Dr. Stone was accompanied 
on his trip to this section by Mr. John G. Woodbury, who had been in 
the employ of both the California Acclimatization Society and the 
California Fish Commission. 

After many hardships and struggles to obtain material and supplies, 
they succeeded in establishing on the McCloud River the first salmon- 
breeding station on the Pacific Coast, naming it Baird, in honor of 
Spencer F. Baird, Commissioner of Fisheries. The summer run of 
salmon was nearly over and, judging from Dr. Stone’s report, the 
salmon run in the Sacramento River was very much depleted. From 
the advent of the whites up to this time, there had been a great demand 
on the salmon of the Sacramento River; and with no hatcheries to 
increase their numbers, no adequate laws to protect the breeding fish 
(and with the great spawning grounds of the Feather, Yuba, Bear and 
American rivers destroyed by the mining operations on their head- 
waters), in a few years little was left of the great run of fish that had 
previously entered these waters. The salmon had abandoned them 
altogether, as the eggs deposited on the spawning grounds in these 
streams did not hateh, being destroyed by the detritus from the mines. 
The only natural spawning grounds left to the salmon were in the 
tributary rivers that formed the headwaters of the Sacramento River, 
the principal streams being Mill Creek, Battle Creek, Pit River and its 
tributaries, Hat Creek and the MeCloud River, and the main Sacra- 
mento River, above the mouth of the Pit. These proved to be good 
salmon streams, but the great drain on the salmon and the destruction 
of nearly one-half of the spawning beds, soon greatly diminished their 
numbers. 

The first season’s operations on the McCloud River, by Dr. Living- 
ston Stone and his assistants, were experimental to a great extent. Only 
50,000 eggs were taken, and of this number but 30,000 were fit to ship 
when they had developed to the proper stage. The eggs were shipped 
to a hatchery in New Jersey and 7000 hatched; and on the advice of 
several state commissioners and fishculturists the fry were planted in 
the Susquehanna River. The following season the Baird Hatchery 
was enlarged and the work of collecting and hatching salmon eggs was 
begun in earnest. From 2,000,000 to 14,000,000 eggs were taken 
annually at this station from 1872 to 1883. 

In 1881 the plant was destroyed by a freshet, but was immediately 
rebuilt. The California Fish Commission assisted in the work at Baird 
by paying a portion of the operating expenses, and in return received 
eggs for hatching and fry for planting. The main object of this 


64 CALIFORNIA FISH AND GAME. 


hatchery for the first few years was to secure eggs to ship to the Kast 
for the purpose of introducing Pacific salmon in the waters of that 
section. The commission early made an agreement with the State of 
California, however, under which the latter at first paid part of the 
expense, while the commission hatched and planted a portion of the 
take in the McCloud River. Later, part of the eggs were turned over 
to the state, which hatched and planted the salmon in local waters. 

About 25 per cent of the total number of eggs taken during this time 
were hatched at this station, and the fry each season were liberated in 
the McCloud River, under the supervision of Dr. Stone, superintendent 
of the hatchery. The cost of hatching and planting was borne by the 
California Fish Commission. The remaining eggs were shipped to 
the Eastern states and to foreign countries. Shipments of the Chinook 
salmon were made to the principal countries of Europe and also to 
Japan and New Zealand. 

In 1883 the United States commission quit operations on the 
McCloud River. Only 1,000,000 eggs had been taken during the sea- 
son, this being the smallest take in the history of the work on this 
stream since the preliminary work of 1872. This great falling off in 
numbers was due largely to the heavy blasting and other operations on 
the line of the railroad which was then being constructed from Redding 
northward. The salmon undoubtedly were frightened so that they did 
not ascend the Sacramento River; besides, a great many were taken 
by the grading gangs and used in the camps for food. Thousands of 
trout and salmon were destroyed by powder used by the Chinese and 
white laborers, of whom there were 9000 camped along the Sacramento 
River; and while a great many of the fish were used as food, there was 
wanton destruction in the way they were killed. The same condition 
existed in 1884, and Superintendent Stone recommended that the sta- 
tion be not operated that season. It remained closed from that date 
until 1888, the year that the Sisson hatchery was established by the 
state. 


SAN LEANDRO HATCHERY. 


Finding the state hatchery house at Berkeley too small for the 
quantities of fish required to be hatched, as well as lacking in a relia- 
ble water supply, a larger hatching house was built on Lake Chabot, on 
the property of the San Leandro Water Works, near San Leandro, Cali- 
fornia, in 1878. Here much of the trout work was carried on until the 
Shebley Hatchery in Nevada County was taken over by the state. 


SHEBLEY HATCHERY. 


In 1883 the California Fish Commission abandoned the San Leandro 
Hatchery, located near Lake Chabot in Alameda County, owing to the 
fact that the water was too warm for successful hatching and rearing 
to be accomplished during the warmer months of the year; also, the 
water was not suitable for the propagation of healthy fry. 

A site was selected in Nevada County on the ranch of Mr. J. V. 
Shebley, who donated to the state the use of the site and the water for 
hatchery purposes. The first superintendent was Mr. J. A. Richard- 
son, a fishculturist formerly employed by the United States commission 


CALIFORNIA FISH AND GAME. 65 


at Baird, and by the California Fish Commission, as an assistant to 
Mr. J. G. Woodbury at the San Leandro Hatchery. 

The work accomplished at the Shebley Hatchery was limited, owing to 
the small amount of money appropriated and the great cost of trans- 
porting the fry to the waters to be stocked. The commission had to 
pay expressage on all shipments of eggs and fry distributed. The 
principal work was the hatching of rainbow trout, the black-spotted 
trout of the Tahoe basin, and also a number of shipments of eastern 
brook trout and landlocked salmon. This hatchery was operated until 
1888, when the board decided to establish larger hatcheries located near 
the egg-collecting stations, where an unlimited supply of water could 
be had. Accordingly, in 1888, after the distribution of fry was over 
for the season, the Shebley Hatchery was abandoned, and in the follow- 
ing spring the tools and apparatus that were the property of the state 
were shipped to the new hatchery on Lake Tahoe, at Tahoe City. 


FRAZIER HATCHERY. 


Frazier Hatchery was established in 1875 by I. C. Frazier, on Squaw 
Creek, Nevada County, under permit and authority granted by the 
State Fish and Game Commission. This hatchery was operated until 
1880, when it was abandoned. 


HURLEY HATCHERY. 


The Hurley Hatchery was established in May, 1880, by John Hurley 
under permit from the Fish Commission. During that year there were 
hatched and distributed over 95,000 trout. Captain Todman, with the 
authority of the commission, leased the hatchery and hatched and 
released over 500,000 trout during the year 1887. The commission in 
1888 took over the hatchery, and before the end of June had hatched 
and distributed over 600,000 trout. 


HAT CREEK HATCHERY. 


In 1885 the California Fish Commission decided to establish a 
hatchery for the propagation of salmon, as the federal government had 
not again resumed operations at Baird, on the McCloud River. After 
examining a number of sites, it was decided to establish a hatchery on 
Hat Creek, with the exception of Fall River the largest tributary of the 
Pit. Hat Creek is a large stream, carrying about 26,000 miner’s 
inches of water, and is not subject to sudden floods. The commission 
had the plans of the hatchery made after the design of the old Baird 
Hatchery and let the work out by contract. The hatchery was a large 
building for those days; it was constructed of good material, was 100 
feet long, 46 feet wide, and contained 64 hatching troughs when com- 
pleted. It had a capacity of 90 troughs, but all were not put in, as the 
run of salmon did not justify the expense. There was a complete 
filtering plant and the hatchery was fully equipped to care for from 
6,000,000 to 10,000,000 eggs. The year following its completion, Mr. 
J. V. Shebley took charge of the station. He began operations early in 
August, but although trapping and seining for the spawning salmon 


66 CALIFORNIA FISH AND GAME. 


Fic. 33. W. H. Shebley and H. E. Southern examining Klamath River trout on 
Cottonwood Creek, near \Hornbrook, Siskiyou County, about 1904, 


CALIFORNIA FISH AND GAME. 67 


was continued until November, only 1,200,000 eggs were collected. The 
spawning beds that a few years before had been covered with thousands 
of spawning fish were now deserted. In 1887 W. H. Shebley was 
appointed superintendent of the Hat Creek station, to succeed J. V. 
Shebley, who resigned from the commission to engage in private busi- 
ness. The take of eggs the second year was less than that of the first. 
Every effort was made to procure sufficient eggs to justify the commis- 
sion’s operating the plant, but only 500,000 were taken. 

In the spring of 1888 Superintendent W. H. Shebley recommended 
to the Board of Fish Commissioners and to Governor Waterman that 
the Hat Creek Hatchery be either abandoned or closed down for a num- 
ber of years, and that a station be established lower down the river at 
a place where the salmon eggs could be collected and shipped to a hatch- 
ery along the line of the railroad. It was demonstrated beyond any 
doubt, during the two seasons that Hat Creek station was operated, 
that the spawning salmon did not reach Hat Creek, nor the Pit River 
near its confluence with Hat Creek, in numbers sufficient to justify the 
expense of operating the station any longer. In former years a large 
run of salmon ascended Pit River as far as the falls below the town 
of Fall River Mills, and also into Hat Creek; but owing to the dimin- 
ishing number of salmon in the Sacramento River and its tributaries, 
the fish that ascended the river found ample spawning beds lower down, 
near the confluence of the Pit, the Sacramento and the McCloud rivers. 
The board, acting on this recommendation, ordered the hatchery closed 
and began looking for another site. 


MOUNT SHASTA HATCHERY. 


In August, 1888, Mr. J. G. Woodbury was appointed superintendent 
of hatcheries of the California Fish Commission. He immediately 
began to look for a suitable location for a large hatchery along the line 
of the railroad, at the headwaters of the Sacramento River. After 
making a thorough examination and a study of the conditions of the 
different streams, it was decided to locate the hatchery on Spring Creek, 
near the town of Sisson, on the property of Mr. J. H. Sisson. Spring 
Creek has its source in a large spring about a mile from the hatchery ; 
the water is pure and cold and its temperature does not vary to great 
extremes. The good judgment shown by Mr. Woodbury and Dr. 
Stone in selecting this location has been proved by the successful work 
done at Sisson during the ensuing years. 

The first hatchery on this site was built in the fall of 1888. It was 
a plain wooden structure 40 by 60 feet, containing 44 troughs, and 
was hurriedly constructed to accommodate the eggs that were being 
collected by the United States commission at Baird from the fall run 
of salmon in the McCloud River; for the federal commission had 
resumed operations on the MeCloud River, after having closed 
the station for five years. An agreement had been entered into whereby 
the United States commission and the California commission were to 
divide the work of propagating salmon in California; the former was 
to collect and prepare the eggs for shipment, the latter to hatch and 
distribute them. 


68 CALIFORNIA FISH AND GAME. 


The Sisson Hatchery was completed and ready for operations in 
September, 1888. The floods did not interfere with the work, and Dr. 
Stone operated until late in November. Eight hundred thousand eggs 
were collected from the early fall run and 2,200,000 from the October 
and November, or late fall run. These eggs were hatched and the fry 
fed until they were large enough to care for themselves and then care- 
fully distributed in the upper reaches of the Sacramento River and its 
tributaries. 

The policy of feeding the fry was continued until 1895, when it was 
discontinued by the Board of Fish Commissioners as a matter of econ- 
omy coupled with a wrong idea that had been advanced by those who 
were dictating the policy of the fishcultural operations in California 


Fig. 34. The old Sisson Hatchery in 1894. 


that the salmon fry were better off if distributed as soon as the umbil- 
ical sac was absorbed. The benefit of feeding the fry was plainly dem- 
onstrated by the great increase of the salmon in the Sacramento River 
in the years that followed the return of the output of fry from 1888 
to 1896. 

The fry at the Mount Shasta Hatchery are first held and fed in the 
troughs about two months before they are removed to the ponds. Then 
they are taken out in small lots and fed until all are accustomed to the 
new surroundings. The pondkeeper distributes the food slowly at 
the different feeding stations in the ponds, until he is satisfied that 
all the fry have received their share of food. By this method the fry 
all make the same development and growth, and there is no danger of 
developing a lot of precocious fry to exercise their cannibalistic instinets 
on the others. 

In 1911 it was decided to again hold and feed the salmon fry until 
they were large enough to care for themselves when distributed, as well 
as to hold a large number of them in the ponds at the Mount Shasta 


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70 CALIFORNIA FISH AND GAME. 


Hatchery until fall and then release them in the upper reaches of the 
Sacramento River during the early fall, before the winter floods. Dur- 
ing the season of 1913 three quarters of a million salmon fry were held 
in “the ponds at this hatchery and released during October. During the 
season of 1914, 21,000,000 salmon fry were held in the troughs, nurser- 
ies and ponds and fed until late in the spring. Of this number, 
4,000,000 were placed in the large ponds at the Mount Shasta Hatchery 
in perfect condition, where they were fed daily and looked after by 
skilled fisheulturists until the early fall, when they were released, so 
that their descent of the river might be less hazardous and a greater 
pumber might reach the ocean than is the case with the fry released in 
the spring or summer. This policy of holding and feeding all of the 
salmon fry before releasing them, and then only when the flood season 
is over in the spring, has unquestionably given good results. It is 
believed that it was the holding and feeding of the fry in the early 
history of the Mount Shasta Hatchery that increased the run of salmon 
in the Sacramento River, and that the present run is largely due to 
these efforts. 

During the year 1913 three new ponds were constructed for the 
rearing of brood fish, making in all a total of fifty-one ponds and nur- 
series. With the increasing demand for fish to stock streams, it was 
found necessary to increase the pond system sufficiently to raise enough 
stock fish to supply the eggs. 

Located as it is at an altitude of 3500 feet above sea level, on the 
southern slope of Mount Shasta and in the heart of Strawberry Valley, 
with a wonderful supply of pure cold water, within a mile of the main 
line of the Southern Pacific Railroad and but a couple of hours by rail 
from the rainbow trout egg-collecting stations on the Klamath River, 
Mount Shasta Hatchery is ideally situated. It not only has a capacity 
for handling the bulk of trout fry, but is also capable of rearing a 
sufficient number of salmon fry to maintain the salmon run in the 
Sacramento River. 

The development of this hatchery from a small salmon hatchery to 
its present size has been gradual. Each year permanent improvements 
have been made. From the first small permanent building, 40 by 60 
feet, containing 44 troughs, erected in 1888, the plant has been enlarged 
until at the present time it includes seventeen acres of land owned by 
the state, with a water right of 700 miner’s inches; fifty-one ponds and 
nurseries for the rearing of thousands of fish; five hatchery buildings 
containing 450 troughs; a superintendent’s residence; three cottages 
for the foreman and assistants; a spawning house; a barn, sheds, garage 
and other buildings, and an electric lighting plant. The value of the 
lands and improvements, together with the apparatus and equipment 
necessary to maintain a station of this size, estimated at the cost of the 
purchase price and of construction, is £100,000. In addition to this 
equipment, the commission has leased outside the grounds but within 
a radius of a quarter of a mile of the plant, three large ponds which 
are used for rearing salmon fry. The capacity of these ponds is 
3,000,000 fry. A one and a half-ton truck is used for hauling mate- 
rials and supplies from the town of Sisson, which is one mile distant, 
and for hauling fish and eggs to and from the trains. As many as 


CALIFORNIA FISH AND GAME. al 


100,000 fish are retained in the fifty rearing ponds as breeders. Ten 
to thirty million trout and salmon are hatched and reared at the station 


each year. 
MILL CREEK AND BATTLE CREEK HATCHERIES. 


The work of collecting salmon eggs has been systematically carried 
on by the joint operations of the federal and state commissions, with 
the object of increasing the number of salmon in the Sacramento River. 
Two hatcheries have been established for the work, one at Battle Creek, 
in 1895, by the state commission; the other at Mill Creek, in 1902, by 
the federal commission. 


Fic. 36. The first salmon-egg collecting station on Battle Creek in 1905. In the 
first year of operation the take amounted to ten million salmon eggs. 


The Battle Creek Hatchery has proved to be one of the greatest 
salmon-spawning stations in the world, as many as 60,000,000 eggs hav- 
ing been taken in one year. It was largely due to the efforts of Mr. 
John P. Babcock that this fine station was located. He had taken a 
keen interest in the propagation of salmon and recommended this site 
to the California Fish Commission. Battle Creek is one of the large 
tributaries of the upper Sacramento River; it rises in the watershed of 
Mount Lassen and flows into the Sacramento River about twenty miles 
north of Red Bluff. There is a lagoon two and a half miles long at its 
mouth, in which the fall-run salmon gather in thousands. The Cali- 
fornia Fish Commission operated this station for two years, but owing 
to a lack of funds, and desiring to see the station operated to its fullest 
capacity, a proposition was made by the state commission to Hon. J. J. 
Brice, then United States Commissioner of Fisheries, to purchase the 
plant for a government station, the money thus obtained to be applied 


12 CALIFORNIA FISH AND GAME, 


to increasing the capacity of the Sisson Hatchery. Commissioner Brice 
accepted the proposition and laid the matter before Congress, and the 
necessary appropriation for purchasing the station was made. The 
eges collected at this station, as well as at the other federal stations in 
the state, have been largely turned over to the California commission 
for hatching and distributing. During the two years that the Battle 
Creek station was operated by the California commission, Messrs. E. W. 
Hunt, superintendent of the Tahoe Hatchery, and W. H. Shebley, 
superintendent of the Sisson Hatchery, cooperated in the immediate 
supervision of the work. 

The salmon have gradually increased as the result of artificial propa- 
gation and the protection of the spawning salmon on their way to the 
breeding grounds at the headwaters of the Sacramento River and its 
tributaries. As an illustration of the wonderful results obtained, the 
United States commission collected and shipped to Sisson from the 
summer run of 1888 but 800,000 eggs, and 2,000,000 from the late fall 
run. With this small beginning, the great work of restocking the Sac- 
ramento River gradually increased until, during the season of 1905-— 
1906, the federal Bureau of Fisheries collected 100,000,000 salmon eggs 
at the three stations—Baird, Mill Creek and Battle Creek. During the 
season of 1903-1904, there were hatched at the Sisson Hatchery 58,000,- 
000, and in the season 1905-1906, 96,000,000 salmon eggs. This great 
work was made possible by the construction of batteries of troughs out- 
side of the buildings, in which to hatch the surplus eggs, the nurseries 
being used to rear the fry, as they could not be held in the troughs 
until large enough to be liberated. 


MILL CREEK EGG-COLLECTING STATION. 


This station is the property of the federal bureau, but was operated 
in 1912 by the California commission. Theretofore the salmon eggs 
had been hatched largely at Sisson, and as the prospects were unusually 
promising for the previous season it was feared the capacity of the 
Sisson Hatchery would be overtaxed. Accordingly, arrangements were 
made with the federal bureau whereby the state operated the Mill Creek 
station. 

During the year 1902 a substation was established on Mill Creek, a 
stream which has its source in the foothills of the Sierra Nevada Moun- 
tains, in the northeastern part of Tehama County, and empties into 
the Sacramento River from the east about a mile above the town of 
Tehama. The eggs were retained here until eyed, and then were 
shipped to other hatcheries. 


REDWOOD CREEK AND KORBEL HATCHERIES. 


Continuing to increase their salmon operations, the United States 
Fish Commission in 1889 erected a salmon hatchery at Fort Gaston, in 
the Hoopa Indian Reservation in Humboldt County. An additional 
egg-collecting station was established on Redwood Creek in 1893, and 
the same year a new hatchery was built near Korbel, on Mad River, but 
on account of inaccessibility, all three stations were abandoned in 1898. 


CALIFORNIA FISH AND GAME. 73 


LAKE TAHOE HATCHERY. 


In the spring of 1889 Superintendent Woodbury, acting under 
instructions from the Board of Fish Commissioners, decided to locate 
a permanent hatchery on Lake Tahoe. The state had been carrying on 
hatchery operations under the direction of Mr. I. C. Frazier, in a rented 
building that was not properly equipped to do good work. Each season 
a few hundred thousand eggs had been taken from the black-spotted 
trout of Lake Tahoe and shipped to the Shebley Hatchery in Nevada 
County, and when the fry were hatched they were shipped back to the 
Truckee and Tahoe region and distributed. 

After a study of conditions the hatchery was located near Tahoe City, 
at the north end of the lake. The water supply was furnished from 
springs rising on the land used as a hatchery site. Thirteen acres were 
first rented, but later purchased so as to secure all the available water 
to be had near the site. At this hatchery millions of black-spotted trout 
were annually reared until 1916. 

During the season 1891 the Tahoe Hatchery, as well as the other 
hatcheries, was not operated, owing to dissension among members of 
the board. Three private hatcheries, located at Del Monte, Glen Ellen 
and Alma, were supervised by the state for a few years, but the result- 
ing hatch was negligible. In 1892 the Sisson Hatchery was reopened 
but the Tahoe Hatchery was not reopened until 1894, when Mr. E. W. 
Hunt was appointed superintendent. The work of propagating the 
black-spotted trout of Lake Tahoe was systematically taken up by Mr. 
Hunt, and the increased number of fish in the Tahoe region is evidence 
of his energetic and intelligent work. The increase of trout in Lake 
Tahoe, like the increase of salmon in the Sacramento River, is well 
demonstrated by the work of the egg-collecting stations. In 1890 the 
commission seined on all the available places in the lake where it was 
thought spawning fish could be taken, besides operating traps in three 
of the best creeks flowing into the lake, and only 873,000 eggs were 
procured. In 1910, 6,000,000 were taken at the Taylor Creek egg- 
collecting station alone. 


THE NEW LAKE TAHOE HATCHERY. 


By 1916 it had become more and more evident that the supply of 
water at the old site of the Tahoe Hatchery was entirely inadequate. 
Consequently, during the fall of 1917, a survey was made of all the 
available and suitable streams flowing into Lake Tahoe, and after a 
careful examination a site was selected at Walker Springs, one mile 
north of the present site, on the state highway. The Walker Springs 
run, during the minimum flow, 30 inches of water, and during the 
maximum flow a couple of hundred inches; and this during the season 
of greatest hatchery activity. Therefore the state secured a most desir- 
able site to carry on hatchery work, and the only suitable water for 
hatchery purposes in the Tahoe Basin proper. The streams that have 
their sources in the mountain range surrounding Lake Tahoe carry too 
much detritus and are too roily during the time the snow is melting. 
After purchasing the property, plans were made by the state architect 
for a modern stone hatchery with four times the capacity of the old 


74 CALIFORNIA FISH AND GAME, 


Fic. 37. (Above) The old Tahoe Hatchery as it appeared in 1906. (Below) The 
new Tahoe Hatchery completed in August, 1920. 


CALIFORNIA FISH AND GAME. 75 
hatchery. The contract was given to Mr. Matt Green during the sum- 
mer of 1919. Work was begun on the new hatchery that fall and was 
completed in the fall of 1920. 

The new hatchery contains 64 troughs and has a capacity of about 
two and a half million trout. Provision has also been made for breed- 
ing ponds and nursery ponds and a superintendent’s cottage. This new 
hatchery was made the more necessary because of the lack of water at 
the Tallac Hatchery during the past few years. The new Tahoe Hatch- 
ery is of sufficient size to handle practically all of the black-spotted trout 
operations. 

At the request of Governor Stephens and the citizens of Placer 
County, the old hatchery grounds were converted into a public camp- 
ing ground by an act of the legislature during 1918, and the manage- 
ment of this public park was placed with the Fish and Game Commis- 
sion, which has improved and maintained it from the funds collected 
from hunting and angling licenses. 


MOUNT TALLAC HATCHERY. 


In 1895 Lawrence and Comstock erected a temporary hatchery near 
Tallac, about two miles from the mouth of Taylor Creek, and placed it 
under the control of the commission. The following year operations 
were moved to Tallac Creek. For a number of years a good proportion 
of the eggs taken in the vicinity were hatched at this station and dis- 
tributed in the public waters of that region. However, owing to the 
distance from the spawning grounds and the small supply of water, it 
was decided in the fall of 1908 to abandon this hatchery and erect a 
substantial modern building on Taylor Creek near Tallac, where a large 
supply could be obtained and where the work of hauling the eggs to 
the hatchery in the early spring, when the country is covered deep with 
snow, would not be so difficult. After securing a lease for a term of 
years from Mrs. Anita M. Baldwin, the new building, 40 by 70 feet, 
was erected. It has a capacity of 3,000,000 eggs and is splendidly 
equipped. Since a dam was erected on the stream above the hatchery, 
however, water conditions have not been so good. 


GLEN ALPINE HATCHERY. 


Through the joint efforts of Mrs. George Pierce of Glen Alpine 
Springs, and Professor W. W. Price of Alta, a small hatchery was com- 
pleted at Glen Alpine in 1905 and was operated as an auxiliary to the 
other two Tahoe stations until 1912. It was only a small building, the 
property of the Glen Alpine Hotel Company, having a capacity of 
1,000,000 eggs, and was used by the commission to hatch out a few 
hundred thousand eggs to save the cost of transportation of the fry. 


BEAR VALLEY HATCHERY. 


To satisfy the feeling of necessity for a hatchery in the vicinity of 
San -Francisco, and after careful examination of the waters of the 
neighboring counties, Bear Valley, in Marin County, was finally selected 
as the site for this hatchery, which was erected in the fall of 1891. It 
was operated as a trout station during the seasons of 1892 and 1893, 
but was closed for trout work in 1894. Owing to the limited supply of 


76 CALIFORNIA FISH AND GAME. 


water and the great distance from the railroad, it was considered neither 
economical nor expedient to operate this station longer. The efforts of 
the board were to concentrate the principal trout work at Sisson, aside 
from the work done at the Tahoe Hatchery for the propagation of the 
black-spotted trout of that region. 


WAWONA HATCHERY. 


In 1895, under the supervision of W. H. Shebley, a small hatchery 
was erected at Wawona, to provide fish for the lakes and streams in the 
Yosemite Park and adjacent country. The hatchery was erected and 
equipped by the Yosemite-Raymond Stage Line and turned over to the 
commission to be operated upon condition that an annual hatch of 
500,000 trout eggs should be distributed in that vicinity. It was man- 
aged for a number of years by Mr. M. L. Cross, who was remarkably 
successful in the work, principally that of hatching rainbow trout 
eggs and eggs of the black-spotted trout of the Tahoe Basin. The eggs 
were shipped to this station, and the fry distributed throughout the 
lakes and streams of Yosemite National Park and the surrounding 
country. The German brown trout also has been distributed in a 
number of the lakes and streams, and has done remarkably well. 

By 1916 the hatchery and equipment had become go old that 
operations were suspended. In 1918, however, a new hatchery was con- 
structed on the old site and the old equipment temporarily installed. 
Later the newer equipment from the Yosemite experimental hatchery 
was substituted. 


PRICE CREEK HATCHERY. 


In its endeavor to increase the salmon supply in California the 
commission investigated conditions on Kel River, and in 1897 a hatch- 
ery was erected on Price Creek, one of the tributaries of Kel River, 
about twelve miles from its mouth. 

The first eggs were shipped from Battle Creek to the new station in 
December of that year. This station proved to be a great success. Eel 
River, like the headwaters of the Sacramento, has no predatory fish 
except the trout to devour the salmon fry. The water of the river from 
the mouth of Price Creek to the ocean flows through deep pools, with 
very little current. The salmon fry find perfect conditions in this 
stretch of water, and enter the ocean with very little loss and in fine 
condition. This station has also been used for collecting and hatching 
steelhead eges for distribution in the streams in Humboldt County. 
The increase of salmon in Eel River, following the establishment of this 
station, is another example of the benefit derived from artificial propa- 
gation. At the time the first salmon fry from the hatchery were lber- 
ated in Eel River during the spring of 1898, the average annual ship- 
ment of salmon from Eureka was about 500,000 pounds. After the 
establishment of the hatchery there was a steady increase, and in 1904 
the shipment was over 1,500,000 pounds. 

A most remarkable example of artificial propagation of salmon is 
shown at this important station. This hatchery, in Humboldt County, 
was established in 1897, at which time the average number of pounds 


CALIFORNIA FISH AND GAME. Ot 


of salmon shipped from Eureka per year was less than 500,000. In 
1899, 470,806 pounds were shipped from this territory. Five years 
later, 1904, the total number of pounds had increased to 1,877,000. 

In 1902 this hatchery made the first plant in the state of steelhead 
trout fry. After the spring of 1906, when the restriction prohibiting 
netting became effective, there was a marked increase apparent. In 
operating one small trap on Price Creek (which was at different times 
flooded) the largest number of steelhead eggs ever taken in Humboldt 
County was secured. In 1916 the hatchery was moved to a point on 
Eel River near Fort Seward. 


UKIAH HATCHERY. 


During the season of 1897 Mr. A. W. Foster, president of the San 
Francisco and North Pacific Railroad Company, being desirous of add- 
ing to the attractions of the streams along the line of his road by thor- 
oughly stocking them with fish, caused to be built at Ukiah a fish hatch- 
ery having a capacity of 2,000,000 eggs, and arranged with the 
commission to supply the hatchery with trout spawn, upon an agree- 
ment from him that the fish should be planted in public waters. Mr. 
Foster employed competent men to operate the hatchery, and in the 
spring of 1897, 700,000 trout eggs were forwarded to the Ukiah Hatch- 
ery. They were there successfully hatched and afterwards liberated in 
the public streams of Marin, Sonoma and Mendocino counties. In the 
spring of 1898 the commission forwarded to Ukiah 200,000 eggs. The 
number was reduced because the water supply of the section was 
affected by the dry season. The addition of this hatchery has been and 
will continue to be of great assistance in stocking the 1200 miles of 
trout water in these counties. 

In 1911 the Fish and Game Commission took over complete control 
of the Ukiah Hatchery, since which date it has continued operations. 
Several years ago improvements were made at the station in order to 
permit the eyeing of all the steelhead trout eggs taken at the Snow 
Mountain station. 


MEARS AND HAZEL CREEK STATIONS. 


During the early part of 1898 the commission caused traps to be 
placed in Mears and Hazel creeks, tributaries of the Sacramento River, 
near Sims, hoping to increase the output of rainbow trout. Owing to 
the lack of rain these creeks did not rise and the usual run of spawn 
fish did not attempt to ascend them, and the project was a failure. 
The location, however, was considered good, and the effort was renewed 
the next year, but as the second attempt was also a failure it was 
considered wise to abandon the location and try a point on the Truckee. 

The expense of the work at Sims was borne by the Southern Pacific 
Company. 


VERDI EGG-COLLECTING STATION. 


Following the failure of the attempt to take trout spawn from the 
Sacramento River, and still desiring to increase the output of rainbow 
trout fry, a point on the Truckee River known as the Essex dam, near 


38—17703 


78 CALIFORNIA FISH AND GAME, 


Verdi, Nevada, was selected, where in 1902 a cheap building was con- 
structed and fitted up as a hatchery to hold the eggs until such time 
as they could be shipped to Sisson and Tahoe. The lease for the land 
used was donated to the board by Mrs. Margaret Foulkes of Verdi, 
Nevada. 

The spawn fish were collected from the river by means of traps placed 
near the fishway on the dam, directly in front of the hatchery building. 

The run of rainbow trout at this point was an agreeable surprise, and 
was made possible by the action of all the owners of dams in the river 
in Nevada in placing fish-ladders on the dams and by the efforts of the 
peace officers of Nevada, who enforced the closed season. The Truckee 
River rises in California, its head being in Lake Tahoe. It passes for 
many miles through the mountains of California and then runs into 
Nevada, emptying into Pyramid Lake, so that both Nevada and Cali- 
fornia are intimately concerned in any action that will lead to the 
betterment of the fishing interests of this river. 

The authority for operations at this point was granted by the county 
commissioners of Washoe County, Nevada, who appreciated the fact 
that California and Nevada are jointly interested in improving the 
fishing conditions of the Truckee River. In addition to granting this 
authority, the commissioners exercised their power to have the laws 
enforced in Nevada. Between the last of February and the first of 
May 538,000 rainbow trout eggs were taken. In addition 500,000 black- 
spotted trout eggs were taken; for lack of hatching room, however, all 
but 218 black-spotted trout were liberated in the river above the traps. 
The total number of eggs collected at the station the first year was 
1,038,000, part of which were shipped to the Sisson Hatchery and part 
to the Tahoe Hatchery, the balance being hatched and liberated in the 
Truckee River near Verdi, in Nevada. 

So far as trout propagation is concerned, there is no stream so 
naturally prolifie and so responsive to propag ation and protection as 
this mountain stream. The take in the spring of 1904 was most dis- 
couraging, although the prospects were good. There were large num- 
bers of good-sized fish to be seen, but the heavy and continuous storms 
kept the Truckee River at a flood stage for several months. The gates 
at the outlet of Lake Tahoe, which had been closed during the summer 
of 1903, had stored the water to a higher level than usual. This was 
quickly raised by the heavy rain and melting snow until it became 
necessary, in order to save the property around Lake Tahoe, to open 
the flood gates to their full extent. The continuous flow of such a 
large volume carried away dams and swept a great deal of heavy debris 
down the river, taking out racks and traps and making it impossible 
to replace them. The failure to make a good collection was due 
solely to the unusual conditions, the total take being about 75,000 eggs, 
35,000 of which were eyed and sent to the United States Fisheries sta- 
tion at Leadville, Colorado. About 30,000 fry were hatched at Verdi 
and liberated in the waters of the State of Nevada. 

In 1905 the station was discontinued, the Truckee River continuing 
at such a height that the capture of spawning fish was not feasible with 
the equipment at hand. The funds of the commission would not allow 
a permanent barrier or trap; at least, the number of eggs collected did 
not justify the expense at that time. The hatchery supplies were sent 


CALIFORNIA FISH AND GAME. 79 


to the stations on Lake Tahoe and at Sisson; the hatching troughs and 
other material too heavy to transport were donated to the State of 
Nevada, and have done some excellent service. 


HORNBROOK EGG-COLLECTING STATION. 


After a favorable report on the possibilities of taking rainbow trout 
spawn from Cottonwood Creek, Siskiyou County, had been made by 
W. H. Shebley, superintendent of Sisson Hatchery, in 1900, the board 
secured permission from Mr. David Horn, who owned the land on both 
sides of the creek, to trap the fish on his land and to make the neces- 
sary preparations to that end by constructing a temporary egg-collecting 
station. Accordingly, in January, 1901, operations were commenced 
by putting in a rack and large trap, also fitting up troughs in a tent 
for the purpose of eyeing the eggs before shipment to Sisson. It was 
found later, however, that the water supply taken from a spring, to be 
used for eyeing the eggs, was alkaline in character. Therefore opera- 
tions for collecting eggs were carried on, and as fast as taken they were 
shipped direct to Sisson to be eyed and hatched. This proved to be 
both suecessful and economical, as the station required then only the 
services of one man to watch the traps, collect the spawn fish, and place 
them in a ‘‘live-box.’’ Notwithstanding the fact that the trap was 
twice washed out by high water, 417,000 eggs were collected the first 
season. This was not considered a fair test of the capacity of the 
stream, as the storms were unusually severe and a warm rain on the 
deep snowfall caused freshets. 

Operations were continued in the spring of 1902, and a new trap was 
put in in February, but the first run was lost because of floods which 
washed out the trap and allowed the fish to pass on up the stream. In 
spite of these drawbacks, 686,000 eggs were taken by the last of May. 
The cost of collecting the eggs being so slight, it was considered that the 
efforts and money had been well expended and that it would be advis- 
able to continue to operate the station. The station was operated for 
several years by the California Fish and Game Commission and was 
then turned over to the United States Bureau of Fisheries, which con- 
tinued operations until 1919, when the station was again returned to 
this department. 

A eareful investigation of Cottonwood Creek with reference to the 
collecting of rainbow trout eggs was made during the spring and early 
summer of 1919, with the result that a lease for a new site was obtained 
from Mr. Marshall Horn and a permanent system of racks was installed 
therein to trap the spawning trout as they ascend the stream. A new 
and larger holding-tank for the fish was also installed, and with the 
new equipment it was possible to obtain 1,600,000 trout eggs in the 
spring of 1920. 


SALMON EGG-COLLECTING EXPERIMENTS ON EEL RIVER. 


The commercial fishing at the mouth of the Kel River and the spear- 
ing of the breeding salmon on the riffles on the upper reaches of the 
river necessitated the propagation of salmon in larger numbers on Eel 
River. Experimental work was carried on at an experimental station 
on Bull Creek, one of the tributaries of the South Fork of the Eel 


80 CALIFORNIA FISH AND GAME. 


River, and also in the main river near the mouth. The results of these 
experiments of the last three years have not justified the expense of 
establishing a permanent egg-collecting station on the lower reaches of 
the river. 

There are several conditions in that region that make it seem imprac- 
ticable to establish an egg-collecting station there. The salmon, upon 
entering the mouth of the river, are compelled to remain in the large 
pond below Loleta until the river rises in the fall, as there is not enough 
water during the seasons of normal rainfall to allow the fish to pass 
over the wide, shallow riffles connecting the large pools from South 
Fork to the large pool at the mouth of the river. 

As a rule the river rises to a considerable extent, but not before the 
majority of the salmon are caught by the commercial fishermen at the 
mouth of the river in the large pool. It has been suggested that eggs 
be collected from the fish in the large pool during the early fall before 
they ascend the river or are taken by the commercial fishermen, but we 
find that the fish do not ripen in numbers great enough to justify the 
expense of seining them up and separating the few ripe ones from those 
that are green or immature. Furthermore, there is no water near the 
mouth of the river suitable for hatchery purposes. If eggs could be 
taken in sufficient quantities to justify the expense of collecting them, 
they would have to be taken direct to Fort Seward Hatchery on the 
railroad, some sixty miles up the river. The eggs collected would, in 
all probability, be in such small lots that it would not pay to keep the 
necessary help and equipment. 

Any attempt to place racks across the main Eel River or the South 
Fork, anywhere near its mouth, is almost impossible, as the loose nature 
of the formation is not solid enough to hold the racks and, even if this 
were overcome, the tremendous amount of water that comes down Eel 
River during flood periods, carrying logs and debris of all kinds, would 
make it impossible to retain any kind of a rack in the river. Further- 
more, if a rack could be built that would stand the flood water of the 
river when the salmon were running, the number of fish that would be 
entering the river would be all fresh run from the ocean and would 
have to be held too long in order to allow them to mature. 

An egeg-collecting station on Eel River or its tributaries must be 
situated far up the stream, away from the tremendous floods and the 
floatage matter in the river, and must be in the upper reaches near the 
spawning grounds, where the fish have spent the necessary time in fresh 
water for the breeders to mature. 

It takes less fry to stock Eel River and maintain the run of salmon 
than any other river on the coast, as there are few natural enemies of 
the young of the salmon to be found in the river. _There are no pred- 
atory fishes, no diverting canals to carry off the water where fry are 
lost, or overflow basins, and very few water snakes or other natural 
enemies. If only a few million eggs can be collected and the resulting 
fry planted each season, the run of salmon in Hel River ean be easily 
maintained provided the fishing at the mouth of the river is regulated 
as well as the ocean fishing, where large numbers of salmon are taken 
each season. 


CALIFORNIA FISH AND GAME. 81 


EEL RIVER EGG-COLLECTING STATION. 


Extensive egg-collecting equipment was installed during the fall of 
1921 on the South Fork of Eel River, near Branscomb. Racks, traps, 
holding pens and cabins for the assistants have been put in on the South 
Fork of Eel River. Racks and traps have also been placed in Charlie 
Creek, and on Kinney Creek an eyeing station has been put in and 
racks, traps, pens, ete., installed. The station has been equipped for 
extensive operations, and it is the intention to collect the eggs of the 
steelhead trout as well as those of the salmon. 


BROOKDALE HATCHERY. 


In 1905 Mr. F. A. Shebley located a hatchery at Brookdale for the 
county of Santa Cruz, on a tributary of the San Lorenzo River, twelve 
miles from the city of Santa Cruz. It has proved to be one of the best 
steelhead hatcheries on the coast, and the increased number of steelhead 
trout in the streams of Santa Cruz County is sufficient evidence of the 
success of this station. An auxiliary of the Brookdale Hatchery was 
established on Seott Creek, and it has been jointly operated by the 
California Fish Commission and Santa Cruz County. The fry hatched 
from the eggs collected at this station are distributed in the waters of 
Santa Cruz, San Mateo, Santa Clara and Monterey counties, and some 
of the eggs are shipped to Sisson and Hel River hatcheries for distribu- 
tion in other localities. Beginning with July 1, 1912, both Brookdale 
Hatchery and Scott Creek spawning station have been operated exclu- 
sively by the state and a general distribution made of the product. 


EDGEWOOD EGG-COLLECTING STATION. 


After the abandonment of the station at Verdi, the commission still 
considered it wise to establish a station on some stream where a supply 
of rainbow eggs could be collected at small cost. Superintendent W. H. 
Shebley of Sisson was sent to examine the different streams in Siskiyou 
County for that purpose. He selected a point on the Shasta River 
near Edgewood, Siskiyou County. The cost of operating was light and, 
besides, the eggs could be transported direct from the spawning station 
to the Sisson Hatchery, avoiding the expense of a double crew of men. 

The station was operated for the first time in 1906, but owing to 
unusual freshets which swept over the racks, most of the spawning fish 
were able to pass them, so that only about 50,000 eggs were taken. 
This, however, was considered sufficient to demonstrate the value of the 
station. An agreement was entered into with the Federal Bureau of 
Fisheries, which desired to establish a rainbow egg-collecting station, 
whereby the federal bureau was to bear part of the expense of operation 
of the station and was to receive in exchange the privilege of eyeing 
their eggs in the Sisson Hatchery. This arrangement was considered 
mutually beneficial to both commissions, and it tended to insure a 
continuance of the harmonious relations that existed between the two. 


THE SACRAMENTO EXPERIMENTAL STATION. 


During the fall of 1911 the commission decided to carry on a series 
of experiments to determine whether the eggs of the quinnat salmon 
could be successfully hatched and the fry reared near the city of Saera- 


82 CALIFORNIA FISH AND GAME. 


mento. It was thought that if water could be found in which the eggs 
could be hatched without causing injury to the eggs and embryos, a 
ereater percentage of the fry would safely reach the ocean than would 
be the case if they were all liberated in the upper reaches of the river 
near the natural spawning grounds. It was maintained that under the 
old system of liberating the fry as soon as they were able to swim, a 
great many of them were devoured by predatory fishes, and others were 
carried into the overflow basins during years of flood. 

Accordingly the station at Sacramento was established. Mr. F. A. 
Shebley conducted the work in addition to his duties as superintendent 
of the Brookdale Hatchery. The experiments as carried on at Sacra- 
mento were of vital importance to the salmon industry. After experi- 
menting with the water from a number of wells, a flow of water was 
found on the Sherburn tract that appeared tc be pure enough for 
salmon propagation. The fish hatched at this station were all released 
in the Sacramento River. Of these, 50,000 were marked in order to 
determine by careful observation whether a greater percentage return 
as mature salmon than those that were released on the upper reaches of 
the Sacramento River. 

Nearly all of the fry that were lberated in the Sacramento River 
were floated in a screen cage by boat into the middle of the stream and 
there released. Mr. N. B. Scofield, however, took 500 in a floating box 
down the river, where they were held and fed for several weeks in 
brackish and salt water. They were not affected by the sudden change 
from the fresh to brackish and then to the saline waters of the straits 
near the outlet of the bay. 

In the course of the experiments and in the search for suitable water 
for hatching purposes, two wells were bored and the water from other 
wells was also analyzed and experimented with. The batteries or series 
of troughs used in these experiments were set up in the open air near 
the wells, and the pumping plants were installed temporarily. _ The 
best results were obtained from the well on the Sherburn tract. Here 
a battery of 40 troughs was set up on the levee, and the pumping plant 
installed in a small building of corrugated iron. These experiments 
were continued until the season of 1912-1913, but with no favorable 
results. The water did not have the life-sustaining qualities of moun- 
tain stream water, although a well arranged system of aeration was 
used, and the conclusion was reached that the well water all through 
the valley contains too much mineral to hatch salmon eggs without 
destroying or injuring them so badly that they will not thrive if they 
should hatch out. The undertaking was accordingly abandoned in 
1913, the station was closed and the troughs and other apparatus were 
shipped to the Sisson Hatchery. : 


BEAR LAKE HATCHERY. 


With the aid of the San Bernardino Trout Association, San Bernar- 
dino County in 1914 built a trout hatchery with a capacity of 1,000,000 
fish. The hatchery was located on the south side of Bear Lake. It was 
built under the supervision of Mr. E. W. Hunt, superintendent of the 
Tahoe Hatchery. The expense of the hatchery was borne by the mem- 
bers of the county association, and no money was solicited outside the 


CALIFORNIA FISH AND GAME. 83 


county. The board of county supervisors had charge of the distribu- 
tion of the fish hatched and were able to see to it that the local streams 
were well stocked with the output. 

The object of this hatchery was to propagate rainbow trout from the 
fish in Bear Valley Lake. Bear Valley Lake (locally known as Big 
Bear Lake) is a body of water seven miles long and one and a half 
miles wide at its widest part. It is an artificial storage lake lying in 
the heart of the San Bernardino Mountains, about thirty miles from 
San Bernardino, at an elevation of about 7000 feet. This lake was 
stocked previously with rainbow fry from the state hatcheries, and 
these fish thrived remarkably. The association did not make a success 
of the hatchery and turned it over to the Fish and Game Commission. 

In 1919 the necessity of increasing the capacity of the Bear Lake 
hatchery at Green Spot Springs became apparent, the old buildings 
that had been erected by the Southern Califernia Trout Association 
being found inadequate. After procuring a permit from the forest 
service for a site adjacent to the site leased from San Bernardino 
County, a new hatchery with modern troughs was erected and fully 
equipped for the hatching and rearing of trout fry. The site at Green 
Spot Springs is about twelve miles from the egg-collecting station at 
North Creek. This is the only water available for hatchery purposes 
near Bear Lake. All the creeks dry up as the summer advanees, except 
some small springs used for domestie purposes. 

The Green Spot Springs rise near the foot of Sugar Loaf Mountain 
and flow through a shallow ravine toward Baldwin Lake. The water 
is used by the Shay Brothers on their stock ranch, after it leaves the 
hatchery. There is approximately 20 inches of water in the spring. 
It is cool and free from any organic substances, and is excellent 
hatchery water. 

During the summer and fall of 1919, general improvements at North 
Creek Egg-collecting Station were made, and a new hatchery at Green 
Spot Springs with a capacity of 1,500,000 fry was erected. The work 
was begun early in September, but owing to delays in getting mate- 
rials was not finished until late in November. At the hatchery at North 
Creek Egg-collecting Station, a portion of the eggs are hatched each 
season and the fry held until they are swimming well; then they are 
distributed in the most favorable places in Bear Lake, where there is 
an abundance of natural food. The fry can not be held in North Creek 
station later than the middle of July, as the water in North Creek fails 
by that time. The remainder of the fry reared for Bear Lake are held 
in the hatchery at Green Spot Springs until later in the season, when 
they are distributed in the lake in the shallows and other favorable 
spots. 

During 1919 plans were made to build suitable quarters for the help 
at North Creek Egg-collecting Station, a cabin and a new trap on 
Metcalf Creek, and a cabin and a trap on Grout Creek. A new trap 
was built in North Creek, and the egg-collecting station and hatchery 
were repaired and improved. 

The principal streams entering Bear Lake—North Creek, Metcalf 
Creek, Butler Creek and Grout Creek—were filled with sand from the 
high-water mark on the lake shore to the water’s edge, averaging in 


84. CALIFORNIA FISH AND GAME. 


length from one-fourth to one-ha:it mile. The creeks are all short, but 
carry a large amount of granitic sand caused by the disintegrated 
granite formation through which these streams flow. These creeks had 
been filling up for several years, until in the spring of 1919 it was 
almost impossible for the breeding trout to enter them, as the water 
was spread over such a wide area of sand deposits that the fish could 
not find water of sufficient depth for them to swim in. In order to 
open these channels so that the fish could enter the streams and reach 
the traps, teams and scrapers were hired and the channels excavated 
through the sand deposits so that the water would have sufficient depth 
at the mouth of the creeks. The spawning area above the traps is so 
small that it does not justify allowing any of the fish to spawn natur- 
ally. The streams nearly all dry up before the eggs are hatched, even 
if they are allowed to ascend the streams and deposit their eggs. The 
majority of the eggs deposited by the breeders below the traps do not 
hatch, as they are covered over with the sand that packs so tight over 
the eggs that they are smothered. Consequently the stock of fish in 
Bear Lake must be kept up by artificial propagation almost entirely. 

Years ago, when the lake was first stocked, the sand deposits were not 
so great, as the flood waters scoured the streams out each season; but 
during the last five or six years the sand has accumulated to such an 
extent that the creeks must be kept open by removing the sand every 
two or three years so that the fish can reach the traps. 

Bear Lake has an abundance of natural feed for the trout. Besides 
the minnows there are a great many varieties of aquatic insects that 
abound in the lake in great numbers. During the last three seasons of 
drought these insects have increased, so that it is safe to say that there 
is not another body of water of equal size anywhere that has the same 
amount of natural food for trout. 


SNOW MOUNTAIN EGG-COLLECTING STATION. 


The Snow Mountain Egeg-collecting Station was established in 1907. 
Early in the season of 1915 the commission secured a lease on the Cape 
Horn dam from the Snow Mountain Water and Power Company for 
one year, with the option of an additional five years. This lease gave 
the commission the use of the grounds and buildings, as well as the 
privilege of constructing tanks, traps, ete., on the land described in 
the Snow Mountain Egg-collecting Station lease. The dam that makes 
it possible to collect the fish is located on the south fork of Eel River, 
about twenty-five miles from Ukiah, Mendocino County. All the steel- 
head trout that ascend this branch of Eel River are easily trapped in 
the fishway over the dam. A small battery of hatching troughs was 
installed and holding pens for the spawning fish were provided. As 
the fish ascend the fish ladder they are automatically trapped and 
swim directly into the holding pens, from which they can not escape. 
It is a very cleverly arranged scheme, and in addition to being a saving 
by eliminating a great deal of work, lessens the loss of fish from han- 
dling. Snow Mountain station is one of the best steelhead egg-collecting 
stations on the coast. 


CALIFORNIA FISH AND GAME. 85 


FORT SEWARD HATCHERY. 


Owing to the undesirable location of the Price Creek Hatchery, it was 
decided to remove it to a more favorable site. Price Creek Hatchery 
was located on Price Creek, one-half mile from its junction with Eel 
River. The creek has its source in the hills near the mouth of Eel 
River. The country through which it flows is a loose, friable and dis- 
organized formation that is constantly sliding and washing away. 
During the winter months the creek was so full of sediment that it was 
only with the greatest skill and care that fish could be reared at all. 
In the spring the water dried up rapidly and became very warm, so 
that it was impossible to hold the fry later than June. The commission 
decided, therefore, to remove the hatchery to a more favorable location. 
The Department of Fishculture was instructed to select a suitable site 
and to move the station. After a careful survey of the streams on the 
line of the Northwestern Pacific Railroad, Fort Seward Creek was 
selected, a cold, clear stream, flowing into Eel River and about four 
and one-half miles above old Fort Seward, Humboldt County. The 
commission purchased forty acres of land near the mouth of the creek 
and selected a site for the hatchery about one-quarter of a mile from 
the Northwestern Pacific Railroad. 

Early in 1916 the work of moving the building and equipment to the 
new site on Fort Seward Creek was begun, being completed and ready 
for the spring hatch of eggs. A cottage for the superintendent and 
a cabin for the men were erected and finished in a rough way until 
more comfortable quarters could be arranged. 

The hatchery building is situated near the creek in a narrow canyon 
and the superintendent’s dwelling on an eminence overlooking the 
hatchery. As funds were limited at the time the hatchery was estab- 
lished, only a poorly constructed cabin could be built for the help 
besides the cottage for the superintendent. During the fall of 1919, 
two four-room cottages, of plain interior finish and shingled outside, 
were built, so that men with families could be employed. 

The water in Fort Seward Creek is the only water suitable for 
hatchery purposes on the line of the Northwestern Pacific Railroad. 
There are several streams between South Fork station and Fortuna, 
but they all have their sources in the same sedimentary formation as 
Price Creek, where it was necessary to abandon the hatchery owing 
to the great amount of sediment carried in the water during the winter 
and spring, when the rainy season was at its height. 

The fry produced at this hatchery are the best reared in any of the 
hatcheries located in the coast counties. 


YUBA CITY SHAD HATCHERY. 


Early in the season of 1916 the question of propagating shad was 
taken up by the Department of Fishculture. The heavy fishing for 
shad in the bays and in the Sacramento and San Joaquin rivers in pre- 
vious years had caused noticeable falling off in the numbers of these 
fish, and to keep the supply up it was deemed necessary to resort to 
artificial propagation. 

About the same time, a request was received from the Massachusetts 
and Connecticut fish and game commissions requesting the California 

4—17703 


86 CALIFORNIA FISH AND GAME. 


commission to collect shad eggs from California waters and ship 
them to their hatcheries, as they were desirous of restocking the 
depleted waters of the Eastern states with shad. Shad were introduced 
into California from New England states by the California Fish Com- 
mission in 1871. hey increased rapidly until a few years ago, and the 
Sacramento and San Joaquin rivers were fairly alive with them in 
the spring and summer, when the run of shad was at its height. 

The excessive fishing and pollution of the Eastern rivers has caused 
the shad to become very scarce, and it was the desire of the Massachu- 
setts and Connecticut commissions to restock their waters. It was 
decided to collect the shad eggs for the two commissions, as it was 
considered an opportune time to carry on experiments to locate the 
spawning places of shad, as well as to make experiments to determine 
whether shad culture could be carried on successfully in California and 
to determine whether the process of fertilizing the eggs and propagating 
the fry could be improved upon. 

Consequently the commission decided to operate a shad hatchery on 
a small scale during 1916, to carry out the experiments and to gather 
data in preparation for more extensive operations the following season. 
When operations were begun, in May, it was thought that all the eggs 
necessary for the shipments East, as well as for our experiments, could 
be collected by the latter part of May or early in June, but the season 
proved to be unfavorable and the work dragged along into July without 
sufficient eggs being obtained at one time to make a shipment Kast. 

Fishing began on June 3 at Yuba City. The run was poor all 
through the season in the upper reaches of the rivers; nowhere near its 
size in former years. The light run of shad in the upper river was due 
to the very cold spring, cold water, and later to the high, roily water 
caused by the melting snow in the higher altitudes. During the season 
1,421,000 shad eggs were collected and 872,000 fry hatched and suceess- 
fully released in the Feather River. This work was under the imme- 
diate supervision of Superintendent G. H. Lambson of the Mount 
Shasta Hatchery. 


BURNEY CREEK EGG-COLLECTING STATION. 


In the spring of 1915 a lease was secured on a piece of land at the 
mouth of Burney Creek, a tributary of Pit River, Shasta County, for 
the purpose of collecting rainbow trout eggs. A rack was placed across 
the stream and the necessary live cars and pens were made to hold 
the fish that were expected to enter the creek. A tent and a few troughs 
under it with hatching equipment was set up and operations were 
begun. It was originally planned to eye the eggs and hatch them in 
the old Hat Creek Hatchery, seven miles from Burney Creek, if a suffi- 
cient number were taken; but early in May an eruption of Mount 
Lassen sent a tremendous flood of mud, water and sand down the Hat 
Creek Valley, destroying all the fish in the stream from its source to 
its confluence with the Pit River. This was one of the most serious 
destructions of fish life in recent years in California. Hat Creek rises 
in the southeastern part of Shasta County, in a lake at the foot of 
Mount Lassen, at an altitude of 7300 feet above sea level. It flows 
northerly into the Pit River, two miles northwest of Carbon, where 


CALIFORNIA FISH AND GAME. 87 


the old Hat Creek Hatchery was located. It is thirty-eight miles in 
length. Its principal tributaries are Rising River, a short stream aris- 
ing from large springs in the lava, and Lost Creek. Rising River is 
only two miles in length, but has an average flow of 380 second-feet of 
water. Hat Creek, before its confluence with Rising River at the town 
of Cassell, has an average flow of about 100 second-feet during the 
summer months. Hat Creek and its tributary, Rising River, were 
noted for the excellence of their rainbow trout. After the flood of mud 
and Sand from Mount Lassen, the only survivors in the valley were 
those that were in Rising River. The water was muddy all during the 
season of 1915, and during the following years continued so muddy 
that it was not considered practical to restock the stream. It will 
probably be several years before fish will again thrive in Hat Creek, as 
the shifting sand deposited by the voleano destroys all the insect life 
in the stream, as well as making it uninhabitable for trout. 

The fish enter Burney Creek late in the summer, but the run is a 
protracted one, lasting from April to August. The fish are late in 
developing, and if the fry were reared in a higher altitude and the 
progeny spawned later each season, a fall-spawning rainbow trout could 
probably be developed. This might have some advantages over a 
spring-spawning fish, as such trout would be in fine condition for the 
anglers when the fishing season opens in the spring. 


MARLETT-CARSON HATCHERY. 


The supply of eastern brook trout fry was increased considerably in 
1916 and 1917. The Nevada State Fish Commisison did not operate 
its hatcheries, and the California commission was able to secure the 
privilege of collecting eggs from Marlett Lake, Nevada. The Carson 
City Hatchery was taken over by the commission, and the eastern brook 
trout eggs collected from Marlett Lake were shipped to this hatchery, 
where they were eyed and prepared for shipment. At this station 
690,000 eggs were collected. The second year but half the eges taken 
were to go to California under the agreement entered into. The share 
shipped to the Mount Shasta Hatchery amounted to 200,000 eggs. 


DOMINGO SPRINGS HATCHERY. 


An experimental hatchery was established at Domingo Springs in 
1916. Improvements were made during 1917, when the temporary 
plant was moved to Rice Creek, one of the main branches of the North 
Fork of the Feather River above Lake Almanor. A thorough test of 
the water and an investigation of the run of fish resulted in the estab- 
lishment of a permanent egg-collecting station and hatchery at this 
place. Accordingly, during the summer and fall of 1919, a permanent 
building was erected and a substantial trap constructed, one-quarter 
of a mile below the falls, in Rice Creek. The site was procured from 
the United States Forest Service. This desirable station will furnish 
fry for the entire region surrounding the west side of Lake Almanor, 
as well as the lakes and streams in the Mount Lassen National Park and 
surrounding country. 


88 CALIFORNIA FISH AND GAME, 


ALMANOR HATCHERY. 


Almanor Hatchery was established in 1916 at the Big Meadows dam 
of the Great Western Power Company on Lake Almanor. It produced 
261,000 rainbow eggs in 1918 and 282,000 in 1919. The water supply 
fails too early in the summer to permit the hatching and rearing of fry 
at the station, and accordingly the eggs were transferred to Clear 
Creek or Domingo Springs hatcheries as soon as they were ‘‘eyed.”’ 


YOSEMITE EXPERIMENTAL STATION. 


With the intention of keeping the streams of the Yosemite Valley 
adequately stocked with trout fry, the commission during the fall of 
1917 made a survey of conditions obtaining in the valley with reference 
to the establishment of a hatchery. A suitable site was obtained for a 
fine hatchery near Happy Isles, and application was made to the Depart- 
ment of the Interior for a lease to the property required for operations. 
Every assurance was given by the Yosemite Park officials that the 
department would grant a suitable lease, and pending the outcome of 
negotiations for the same the commission took advantage of a temporary 
permit granted it to establish an experimental hatchery on the site, in 
order that it might be definitely determined as to the practicability of 
the location for the propagation of trout. Arrangements were made 
with the State Department of Engineering for the preparation of 
suitable plans for the permanent hatchery. 

The experimental station was established during the fall and winter 
of 1918 and was opened up for operations in the spring of 1919. Four 
hundred thousand rainbow, black-spotted and steelhead trout eggs were 
shipped to the station, and the resulting fry were reared and planted 
in the streams and lakes of the Yosemite Valley with the cooperation 
of park officials. The fry produced were vigorous and healthy and 
attained an unusual size in the few months that they were reared in 
the hatchery. 

The site was demonstrated as being satisfactory for hatchery pur- 
poses, but as it is against the policy of the state to erect permanent 
buildings on leased land it was decided at a meeting of the Board of 
Fish and Game Commissioners, held during the latter part of October, 
1920, to abandon the project. All equipment was therefore removed 
from the site and transported by auto trucks to the Wawona Hatchery, 
where it has been used to equip that station for more extensive 
operations. 


MOUNT WHITNEY HATCHERY. 


On February 2, 1917, the Mount Whitney Hatchery, located on a 
forty-acre tract on Oak Creek near the town of Independence, Inyo 
County, was turned over to the Fish and Game Commission by the 
Department of Engineering, under whose supervision the hatchery was 
constructed. The building is a beautiful structure of granite and 
gabro, and the coloring of the rubble walls blends harmoniously into 
the background of giant peaks that form the west wall of the valley. 
The building contains offices, storerooms and a laboratory on the lower 
floor and living quarters for the help in the upper story of the struc- 
ture. It is equipped with up-to-date plumbing. All the troughs have 


CALIFORNIA FISH AND GAME. 89 


a separate water supply. The aerating system is on the latest and most 
modern lines. The waste pipes, catch basins and drains are all of 
concrete. As a matter of necessity the first season’s output was com- 
paratively small, but the 1,285,000 fish distributed in the waters of 
southern. California, the lower San Joaquin Valley, Inyo and Mono 
counties, were an exceptionally fine lot of fish. The ample supply of 
pure water in Oak Creek, that gushes from the granite rocks of the 
basal slopes of the Whitney Range, has proved to be excellent for the 
propagation of trout. The fry advance very rapidly and are strong 


Fic. 38. Picturesquely situated at the eastern base of the Sierra in Inyo County, 
the Mount Whitney Hatchery is the best constructed and best equipped hatchery 
in the state. 


and vigorous. The distribution of the fish has been very satisfactory 
in every particular. 

The grounds around the hatchery have been ornamented and 
improved. A large pond has been constructed, in which there are a 
number of adult trout of different species. Surrounding the pond are 
extensive lawns and beautiful flower gardens, roadways, paths, ete. 
While it is true that the station is located at a considerable distance 
from some of the southern California and San Joaquin Valley sections, 
which receive their supply of trout therefrom, the transportation facil- 
ities are very good, the trains being run on schedules which permit of 
the fish being delivered to the applicants within a very short time after 
leaving the hatchery. Consequently the fry are in the very best possi- 
ble condition when planted in the streams. While it may appear, to 
one not familiar with the existing conditions, that the distribution of 
the fish from Mount Whitney Hatchery is more expensive than from 


90 CALIFORNIA FISH AND GAME. 


other stations on account of the high rate of fares from Mojave to 
Owenyo, the very reverse is true, for the trips of the distribution car 
are all comparatively short ones, enabling distribution work to be com- 
pleted within a short time, which materially lessens the cost of distri- 
bution. But the most important feature of this hatchery is the exceel- 
lence of the fry produced. They are truly wonderful fish, and the 
advantage to the southern waters resulting from the planting of such 
fry is inestimable. 

The most interestinz work undertaken at this station, from a fisheul- 
tural standpoint, has been the propagation of golden trout obtained 
from the Cottonwood Lakes station. The propagation of this species 
is very difficult, owing to the weakness of the embryos. The embryos 
hatched seem to lack vitality, and it is only by exercising the greatest 
care and patience in handling the eggs during incubation and in caring 
for the embryos, that the fry survive at all. Hewever, golden trout are 
being successfully reared, and some very excellent results are expected 
from the stocking of the streams and lakes of the southern high Sierra, 
in which section conditions are propitious for the successful develop- 
ment of this species. 

A supply of rainbow trout eggs is procured from the Rae Lakes, a 
system of lakes lying in the heart of the Sierra at an elevation of 
10,500 feet above sea level. 


RAE LAKES EGG-COLLECTING STATION. 


The Rae Lakes Egeg-collecting Station was established during the late 
spring of 1917 to furnish rainbow eggs for the Mount Whitney Hatch- 
ery. At the site of operations the altitude is 10,500 feet above sea 
level, located on a beautiful chain of lakes set in the heart of the high 
southern Sierra in Fresno County. The lakes are well stocked with rain- 
bow trout. To reach the station in time to trap the fish as they enter 
the streams to spawn is extremely difficult. The trip into the lakes 
must be made via Oak Creek Pass, at an elevation of over 11,000 feet. 
There are few trails and the trip must be made through the blind 
mountain passes, over great depths of snow. Severe snow storms im 
this section, even in June, when the fish are spawning, are frequent. 
Even when the days are clear and warm the nights are freezing cold, 
and the journey through the passes is at best a difficult one, taxing the 
strength and resourcefulness of the hardiest mountaineers. Owing to 
the difficulties attending the opening up and operation of this station, 
and to the fact that sufficient skilled help to operate all-the state 
hatcheries to capacity could not be obtained, this station was not utilized 
during 1918 and 1919. It was again operated in 1920 and 1921. 


COTTONWOOD LAKES EGG-COLLECTING STATION. 

During the summer of 1917, preliminary surveys were made of the 
Cottonwood Lakes country, Inyo County, to ascertain whether it would 
be feasible to undertake the propagation of golden trout. 

The Cottonwood Lakes are situated in a rugged, almost inaccessible 
section of Inyo County near the Tulare County line, at the head of 
Cottonwood Creek. The lakes were stocked in the early seventies with 
golden trout from Mulkey Creek, a tributary of south fork of Kern 
River, and are now teeming with this most beautiful and gamey fish, 


CALIFORNIA FISH AND GAME, 91 


It was found that a number of creeks flowing into the lakes furnish 
excellent spawning grounds, and on what appeared to be the most 
favorable locations it was decided to put in racks and trap the fish as 
they ascended the streams to spawn. All arrangements were made to 
be on the ground at the proper time. All of the lumber, tools, tents, 
camp equipment and supplies had to be transported by pack train over- 
land from Lone Pine. However, this was all successfully accomplished, 
and the men reached the site of the station in ample time to catch the 
first of the fish ascending the streams to spawn. Five hundred thou- 
sand eggs were taken and were successfully transported by pack ani- 
mals from the spawning station to Mount Whitney Hatchery. The 
resulting fry were distributed in waters of that section. 

The remoteness of the site of operations from railroads, highways or, 
indeed, any human habitations, the high altitude and prevalence of 
snow storms, make. the trip into this remote section at this season of 
the year actually dangerous at times. Nevertheless the work has been 
continued, and crews have gone into the ‘‘lakes’’ each season and sue- 
cessfully accomplished their mission. The results obtained have justi- 
fied all the hard work and expense. Although several efforts have been 
made in past years to collect the eggs of the golden trout, the attempt 
during 1918 was the first successful one. The success of the operations 
has been due to the skill and resourcefulness of Mr. George McCloud, 
who was in personal charge of the golden trout egeg-collecting opera- 
tions at Cottonwood Lakes and of Mount Whitney Hatchery, at which 
station the eggs were hatched and the fry reared. The golden trout 
are very difficult to rear, but the results obtained in this delicate work 
have exceeded expectations. The station was again operated in 1919 
and 1920, but due to adverse weather conditions was not opened in 1921. 


FEATHER RIVER EXPERIMENTAL HATCHERY. 


During the spring of 1918, following out the plan of increasing the 
number of small hatcheries throughout the state, an experimental sta- 
tion was established in Plumas County, on the line of the Western 
Pacific Railway on a site on Grey Eagle Creek, about a mile from the 
town of Blairsden. Steelhead eggs were shipped to the station from 
Snow Mountain station, black-spotted eggs from Tallac Hatchery, and 
rainbow eggs from Domingo Springs station, the plan being to thor- 
oughly try out this site in order that a permanent hatchery might be 
erected thereon should the water prove to be satisfactory for hatchery 
purposes. From this hatchery all of the trout fry for Plumas, Lassen 
and Modoe counties, along the line of the Western Pacific and the 
Nevada, California and Oregon railways could be hatched and distrib- 
uted. With the inland territory in the Westwood, Lake Almanor and 
Juniper Lake districts covered by the Clear Creek and Domingo Springs 
hatcheries, and all railroad deliveries for the three counties above men- 
tioned taken care of by the Feather River Hatchery (as the plant near 
Blairsden was to be named), all long hauls to this section from the 
Mount Shasta Hatchery could be eliminated. Unfortunately the water 
of Grey Eagle Creek did not prove satisfactory for hatchery purposes, 
and it became necessary to locate the hatchery in this section on some 
other creek. In 1921 the hatchery was moved to a site on Jamison 


92 CALIFORNIA FISH AND GAME. 


Creek, a tributary of Feather River. ‘The station is located near Johns- 
ville, in Plumas County. The operations last season were successful, 
and accordingly plans were made for the establishment of a permanent 
hatchery at this site. 


CLEAR CREEK HATCHERY. 


The Clear Creek Hatchery and Egg-collecting Station was established 
in the fall of 1918, on the creek that bears its name, one and one-half 
miles from the town of Westwood, Lassen County. Clear Creek is a 
tributary of the Hamilton branch of the Feather River, and a large 
portion of the spawning rainbow trout that ascend the Hamilton 
Branch of the Feather River enter this stream. As the source of Clear 
Creek is in a large spring, the water is pure and cold. The Red River 
Lumber Company furnished the site and material for the Clear Creek 
Hatchery, and the Fish and Game Commission furnished the labor for 
construction. Operations at this hatchery have been very satisfactory. 


FALL CREEK HATCHERY. 


In January, 1913, the California-Oregon Power Company began the 
construction of a concrete dam in the Klamath River two and a half 
miles above the mouth of Fall Creek in Siskiyou County. This dam, 
110 feet high, has required a great deal of study on the part of the 
fisheultural department. The great problem involved was whether an 
efficient fishway could be constructed on such a dam, and if such a fish- 
way were constructed, what would be the benefit derived from such an 
undertaking. The principal run of fish on the Klamath River in the 
region of the Copeo dam is trout and salmon. The Federal Bureau of 
Fisheries has operated a salmon egg-collecting station on the river 
below the dam and have for the last eight years prevented the salmon 
from ascending the river above the racks at Hornbrook. This is neces- 
sary in order that the supply of salmon may be maintained in the 
Klamath River. If the racks were removed and the salmon allowed to 
ascend the river, and a fishway constructed that would allow the pas- 
sage of the breeding salmon above the dam, the resulting fry would have 
to return to the ocean and on their downward journey would be destroyed 
by the power wheels of the hydroelectric plant that takes the water 
from the dam. Therefore the construction of a fishway for the passage 
of salmon above the Copeo dam was not feasible. Accordingly, in 
compliance with the law, the Fall Creek Hatchery was constructed and 
paid for by the California-Oregon Power Company in lieu of construet- 
ing a fish ladder over the Copeo dam in the Klamath River. 

Under the provisions of the law passed by the legislature, whenever 
a dam or other obstruction is placed in a river or stream that, in the 
judgment of the Fish and Game Commission, is too high for the suc- 
cessful operation of a fishway, or for other reasons it is deemed best to 
establish a hatchery below the dam for the propagation of any species 
of fish that may be interfered with by the construction of the dam, the 
owners of the dam must construct and equip a hatchery for the pur- 
pose of propagating fish for the river and turn the hatchery over to 
the state for operation. 


CALIFORNIA FISH AND GAME. 93 


A site was selected on Fall Creek, a tributary of the Klamath River, 
at a distance of fourteen miles from the town of Hornbrook and along 
the line of the old Klamath River Railroad. <A substantially con- 
structed hatchery building, with a capacity of 100 hatching troughs, a 
eottage for the foreman and living quarters for assistants, comprise the 
equipment. The hatchery, completely equipped for fisheultural opera- 
tions and with a capacity sufficient to adequately take care of require- 
ments in that section, was completed and ready for operation in the 
spring of 1919. The Chinook salmon eggs, taken at the Klamathon 
Hatchery during the previous fall, were hatched here and the fry reared 
for distribution in the Klamath River and tributaries during the spring 
and summer of 1919. 

A large portion of the rainbow trout eggs taken at the Bogus Creek 
station are immediately transferred to the Fall Creek Hatchery, where 
they are ‘‘eyed,’’ and later all surplus eggs over and above the amount 
required for stocking the Klamath River are shipped to other stations 
to be hatched and reared for general distribution. The racks and traps 
are located at Klamathon, where successful ezgg-collecting operations 
have been carried on by the California Fish and Game Commission and 
the United States Bureau of Fisheries for several years. The hatchery 
on Fall Creek is but twelve miles from the racks at Klamathon. 


BOGUS AND CAMP CREEK EGG-COLLECTING STATIONS. 


Since 1910, rainbow trout egg-collecting operations have been carried 
on in the Klamath River section by trapping the spawning fish as they 
ascend Bogus Creek and Camp Creek. The racks, traps and holding 
tanks in both of these creeks were in a very poor state of repair by 
1919, and accordingly, in the fall of that year, the old egg-collecting 
plant was removed and new equipment installed. The success of 
operations after the new equipment was installed was very marked. 

The spawning operations at these two creeks are carried on by the 
same crew, as they are but a short distance apart, Bogus Creek being on 
one side of the Klamath River and Camp Creek a short distance above 
on the opposite side of the stream. Accordingly the two camps are 
operated under the name of Bogus Creek station. 


KLAMATHON HATCHERY. 


Tn order that the run of Chinook salmon in the Klamath River might 
be properly maintained, it was deemed essential that the department 
increase the extent of its operations with reference to this locality. 

For many years past the Klamath River has been stocked each season 
with Chinook or king salmon fry, the supply being principally obtained 
from eggs taken from the Sacramento River. The United States 
Bureau of Fisheries had operated the egg-collecting station at Klam- 
athon, and the eggs here taken were mostly shipped to Sisson, where 
they were hatched, reared, shipped back and planted in the Klamath 
River. The bureau also hatched some fry at Klamathon, and these fry 
were planted early in the spring. However, the station was not well 
equipped for general operations, the water supply was poor and 
uncertain, and consequently the extent of the operations was limited 
and the results obtained were far from adequate. After a careful 

5—17703 


94 CALIFORNIA FISH AND GAME. 


deliberation it was decided that some radical changes in the method of 
stocking the Klamath River must be undertaken. The matter was 
taken up with the Bureau of Fisheries and it very kindly agreed to 
turn the station over to the commission, donating also the use of most 
of the equipment, buildings, ete. 

Sonstruction of the racks, as a part of the Fall Creek Hatchery 
system, by the Cahfornia-Oregon Power Company, was begun during 
the fall of 1918 and was finished in time to secure a small number of 
salmon eggs. Under the commission’s plan of operation it was decided 
to take the egzs at Klamathon station and ship them to the new Fall 
Creek Hatchery, which was under construction at the same time, where 
they would be hatched, reared and planted in the Klamath River and 
tributaries. Nearly a million Chinook salmon eges were secured dur- 
ing the fall of 1918, the first year of operation. During the fall of 
1919 this station was prepared to operate at full capacity. Nearly 
5,000,000 eggs were taken, despite the extreme drought, which materi- 
ally affected the run of salmon in the Klamath River. The take of 
eggs has increased each year until, during the fall of 1921, a total of 
19,000,000 eggs were procured. These eggs were all eyed at Mount 
Shasta and Fall Creek hatcheries, and the resulting fry were given 
the usual distribution. 


KAWEAH HATCHERY. 


Early in the spring of 1919 it was decided that to adequately stock 
the streams of Fresno, Tulare and a portion of Kern counties, a hatch- 
ery should be located in the most favorable situation in that district. 
Accordingly the proper investigations were made and a site located on 
the Kaweah River, near the town of Hammond, in Tulare County, 
chosen as the most favorable for the purpose. 

The site is located on the property of the Mount Whitney Light and 
Power Company, on the main highway to the General Grant and 
Sequoia national parks, and has a water supply which is most excellent 
for hatchery purposes. It is the central distributing point for stocking 
the streams in that entire section. The location being all that could 
be asked for, an experimental station was established to determine the 
suitability of the water supply for fishcultural purposes. Three hun- 
dred thousand rainbow, 50,000 black-spotted and 100,000 steelhead 
trout eggs were hatched at the station during the spring. The result- 
ing fry were reared to an advanced stage and were given a wide dis- 
tribution in the streams of the Sequoia and General Grant national 
parks and the entire Kaweah River system during the months of August 
and September. The fry were strong and vigorous and at the time 
they were planted had attained an unusual size. It was demonstrated 
bythe season’s operations that the site selected was entirely satisfac- 
tory for the establishment of a permanent hatchery. The temporary 
hatchery has been operated each season, and will be until funds are 
available for putting up a permanent building. 


SAN JOAQUIN EXPERIMENTAL SALMON HATCHERY. 


The Kerekhoff dam, property of the San Joaquin Light and Power 
Company, that has recently been completed near Auberry’s on the San 


CALIFORNIA FISH AND GAME. 95 


Joaquin, prevents the passage of the salmon to their former breeding 
grounds on the upper reaches of the river. , 

The Merced River will no longer afford a spawning ground for 
salmon, as a large irrigation project is planned that will hold back the 
flood waters of the Merced in a lake to be made by the construction of 
a high dam across the river near Exchequer. Plans had been made 
for the construction of fishways over the small dams in the Merced 
River, property of the San Joaquin Light and Power Company, and 
arrangements made for their construction, but the plan of the large 
irrigation reservoir makes it impracticable to attempt any further 
efforts to perpetuate the run of salmon in the Merced River. With the 
completion of the Kerckhoff dam and the proposed dam at Exchequer, 
the spawning grounds for salmon on the San Joaquin River and its 
tributaries are practically all cut off from the breeding salmon. Dur- 
ing seasons of normal rainfall a few salmon will probably spawn near 
Friants, below power house No. 4 of the San Joaquin Light and Power 
Company. This area is very small and would not have any effect in 
keeping up the run of salmon in the river. 

An experimental salmon-culture station was established on the San 
Joaquin River in 1921, with the object in view of determining what 
the expense would be of collecting the eggs near Friants in the fall and 
transporting them to the hatchery on Willow Creek, a distance of about 
thirty-five miles, hatching the eges and rearing the fry in ponds, the 
fry to be held in the ponds until the following fall, then conveying 
them by auto truek to the river, below the Kerekhoff dam. 

This plan proved impractical, owing to the inaccessible location of 
the site during the winter months and the great distance over rough 
roads which the green eggs would have to be carried in the fall. Plans 
are being made for the construction of a salmon-ege collecting station 
and hatchery on the San Joaquin River near Friants. This station will 
have to be constructed by the San Joaquin Light and Power Company, 
whose operations on the San Joaquin River have broken up the salmon 
run by the construction of high dams and the diversion of the water 
through a tunnel 17,000 feet long, through which the entire flow of the 
river passes during the summer months, leaving the bed of the San 
Joaquin River dry for a distance of twelve miles during the late 
summer and fall. 


CONCLUSION. 


This history should demonstrate that from small beginnings fisheul- 
tural operations have grown until California is a leader among the 
states in its output of trout and salmon. At the present time the state 
owns and operates thirty hatcheries and egg-collecting stations. Of 
this number, seven have been built within the last seven years. Each 
of the hateheries is fully equipped and the largest one has a capacity 
of about 40,000,000 trout and salmon per year. Two railroad ears spe- 
cially fitted for the transportation of the eggs and fry are maintained 
and operated to distribute the output. At several of the hatcheries 
auto trucks are utilized for short hauls to and from the railroad 
station, and in some eases for planting. In the maintenance of these 
hatcheries and egg-collecting stations, it is necessary to employ during 
the summer season nearly sixty men. 


96 CALIFORNIA FISH AND GAME. 


Had it not been for the stocking of barren streams, almost all of the 
rivers and creeks now furnishing good trout fishing would be devoid 
of fish. Name any of the prominent summer resorts, such as Big Bear 
Lake in southern California, Huntington Lake, Yosemite, The Pines, 
and you will find that previous to planting operations no trout fishing 
was to be had in the locality. The Bear Lakes, in San Bernardino 
County, as a result of planting now afford recreation and are a food 
supply to no less than 50,000 people annually, and improvements about 
the lake represent an investment of not less than $1,000,000. 

Nine out of every ten persons summering at Bear Lake are interested 
mainly in the splendid trout fishing. The lakes and streams of Siski- 
you and Shasta counties, of the Feather River region, of the Tahoe 
region, of the Yosemite region and of the upper regions of the San 
Joaquin, Kings and Kern rivers, teem with trout simply because the 
streams have been stocked. Several years ago the dams and lumber 
mills along the Truckee River destroyed the run of black- spotted trout 
in that stream. Had it not been for the introduction of other fish into 
this stream, anglers would now find few fish. However, eastern brook, 
Loch Leven and rainbow trout are now found in abundance in this 
stream—not native fish, but introduced species. 

Not only have barren streams been stocked so that a new source of 
sport and food is available, but the supply has been maintained by 
constant planting. Depletion is to be noted wherever anglers are 
abundant, and were it not for restocking, the supply in many places 
would have failed long ere this. 

Although the maintenance of California’s hatcheries is costly, yet the 
output more than justifies the expense. The accompanying figures give 
some idea of the annual output and the consequent benefit to the people 
of this state: 


Compared with the figures given for the output of Eastern hatcheries, 
it will be noticed that the number of fish reared is less. But it should 
be borne in mind that Eastern states deal largely with inferior fishes, 
producing large numbers of very small-sized eggs, whereas California 
rears trout and salmon which have large eggs. The general public does 
not sufficiently appreciate the accomplishments in this lne of work. 
Even the applicants are so accustomed to having their requests for 
thousands and tens of thousands of trout fry met annually, and sub- 
stantially as requested, that they little realize all the work and planning 
it takes to produce the fish, or the sum of money necessary to rear the 
millions of fish demanded. 

Sections of the state in the most remote recesses of the high Sierra, 
which but a few years ago could be reached only by pack trains with 
the assistance of hardy mountain guides and days and often weeks of 
travel, are now reached in but a few hours from the main centers 
of population by automobiles, over some of the finest highways in the 
world. There can be but one result from such a condition of affairs, 
and that is the practical destruction of fishing in the majority of the 
waters of the state, unless the most stupendous efforts are put forth, 
and at once, to conserve our game fishery resources and to increase the 


i \ 


sae 


: 


§ 
= 


if 


; 


pa a 


Lt 


f= | anise 


SEELSeceeh. 


' 


ana 


a 


i 


ABSTRACT OF FISH 
BY CALIFORNIA FISH AND GAME COMMISSION 
1871 TO 1921 INCLUSIVE 


ms) a) 


130.000 | Hara | 


Tasoaot | Lang | aaatKe8o | 7.000) 37.7757 


1780 


i Geil 1,751,000 


ia 


Hine 


ae 


a 


as 


Ertir 
is 


HE 


100,600 
om 
won 
40000 
ta 
ia ® iz 
it ra] ‘ 
a4 iss 
7a) ae ry rr 


17 Face p. 98 


CALIFORNIA FISH AND GAME. 97 


extent of the operations of the fishcultural department. Every effort 


has been made to keep pace with the demands of the situation, but there 
is a limit set by the proportion of the financial income of the commission 


which ean be devoted to fisheulture. 


bite k eal 1919 - ~ 
Bogusl b ; obey esting Station 1910 - 
Gace, Cook aie tediee pane gaet ion, Bane, - 


‘i =—_ @C Creek Hatchery 1918 - 
Rt. e See Springs Hatchery 1916 - 
Feather River Hatchery 1921 - 
ollectirg station 1920 - 
Mouxtain Egg Cgllecting Station 1907 - 
H, = 
ah Hatchery 1897 a Tahoe atchery {530 
Mount Tallac Hatchery 1909 


cot eek E o11 i 
Broo wale Hatchery x 
‘NX 
atchery 


ake oltige ei ies ting stétion 


@ Cottonwood Dakes Ege 
Collecting Station 19 
i 


Hats re ry @ 
i 


‘ 


tealf Creek Bep 
llecting Sta, ¥ 
¢ lots Hatches 
G t k Cole 
1ee oho Beatie hel 914 


North Creek mG 
Hatchery gy 2 
1919 = 


Map showing location of present hatcheries and egg-collecting stations 


Wig. 39. 
and year established. 


98 CALIFORNIA FISH AND GAME. 


HATCHERIES AND EGG-COLLECTING STATIONS, 1870-1921, 


Name Location pete or 
Acclimatization Society Hatchery_----------- City Wall; San: -Mranciscos.- 2-2 eee 1870-1871 
State iatchine eouse2=— = saan eee University of California, Berkeley_-_---__- 1870-1877 
Baird Fish Hatchery (U. S. Bureau of 
Fisheries) 225282. 55.52. ee eee McCloud River, Shasta County_-___-___-__ 1872- 
(Q@sbult): = ae ee 1881-1883 
1888-1920 
Clear Creek Experimental Hatchery-_--------- Clear Creek, shaker@ountys- 1873-1874 
Krazier Hatchery == ae oe Squaw Creek, Nevada County_--_-_-._-__. 1875-1880 
San: Leandro Hatchery2--—--=--- = =. - 2-8 San Leandro, Alameda County__-__--___- 1878-1883 
HurleyeHatchery,-= == ee Tahoe City; Placer County] = == 1880-1888 
Woodson Egg Collecting Station__--_-_--_-___ Fort. Bidwell: 22-2222 eee 1881-1884 
Nhehleyie at CMe i Vso ee Shebley’s Station, Nevada County_---_-__ 1883-1888 
Phipps) Ela tehey yee ee ree Lake Tahoe, El Dorado County_---_--_--- 1884-1888 
Hat. Oreek, Eatchety===-= 9) eer eee anes Carbon, Shasta County=222--2— = 1885-1888 
Mount Shasta Hatchery—--2==-> 232 =-== == Sisson, ‘Siskiyou County=.-- =) 1888 
Mah oewElatene ya es=aa === tenes eee Tahoe City, Placer County_-----_-----._-- 1889-1891 
1894-1920 
Fort Gaston Fish Hatchery (U. S. Bureau 
OL Mishenies) Se = Serene sees eee Trinity River, Hoopa Indian Reservation, 
Humboldt. County22-— = saa 1889-1898 
Shovel Creek Egg Collecting Station_____-__ Klamath River, near Beswick, Siskiyou 
County. = SS eee 1889-1912 
Glen Ellen Fish Hatchery (private hatchery 
controlledabysst ate) sass eee ee Glen Ellen, Sonoma County_--_------------- 1890-1891 
Del Monte Fish Hatchery (private hatchery 
controlled byastate) 2-2 ee Del Monte, Monterey County_------------- 1890-1891 
Bear Valley, Hatchery =—2 0) == ee Olema; “Marin® County 22=-= 2 eee 1891-1894 
Alma Fish Hatchery (private hatchery con- 
troledapDyastate) see aa ee Alma, Santa Clara, County__.._---———---_- 1892-1893 
Korbel Fish Hatchery (U. S. Bureau of 
MISHETICS)) 28 - eae A s— 2 ee Sa ee eee Redwood Creek, Mad River, Humboldt Co.| 1893-1897 
Independence Lake Fish Hatchery and Egg 
Collecting’ Station=====3_ = Independence Lake, Nevada County-_------ 1893-1894 
Redwood Creek Egg Collecting Station 
(U.4SBureaw of Hisheries)=22=. 22-2 5 sees Redwood Creek, Humboldt County... .-| 1893-1897 
Battle Creek Mish Hatehery=—----—- = Battle Creek, Shasta County _---_---.—--- 1895- 
Wawona batcheryocoa 2s SS ee ee Wawona, Mariposa County_-_-------------- 1895- 
Mount-Tallacweiatchenysses se ae ees Taylor Creek, El Dorado County__-------- 1895-1909 
iPricarcreekwer apcheny ese eee eee eens Price Creek, Grizzly Bluff, Humboldt Co. | 1897-1916 
Ukiah Matchery2-sase22- eo nn oe Ukiah, Mendocino County_—----__-----.-- 1897- 
Mears Creek Egg Collecting Station__-_____ Near Sims;7Shasta, County2—— == 1898-1899 
Hazel Creek Egg Collecting Station__-_______ Near Sims, Shasta County --------.-_--__. 1898-1899 
Hornbrook Egg Collecting Station__________ Cottonwood Creek, Siskiyou County------ 1900- 
@ampbelll Creek. ea a a ee es McCloud River, Shasta County----------- 1901 
Squaw n@reekits esa ee McCloud River, Shasta County_--_------- 1901 
Howe Creek Egg Collecting Station__--_____- Eel River, Humboldt County-------------- 1902 
Mill Creek Hatchery (U. S. Bureau of Fish- : 
eries,operated by state).--+---.----_ == es Los Molinos, Tehama County-_------------ 1902- 
California State Verdi Fish Hatchery____-__- Verdi, Nevadaestatess == esas een ee ee a 1902-1905 
Edgewood Experimental Station_____________ Upper Shasta River, Siskiyou County_---| 1906-1907 
Snow Mountain Egg Collecting Station______ Eel River, Mendocino County_------------- 1907- 
Shasta River Egg Collecting Station___-____ Yreka. Siskiyou @ounty2---2---—-=- none 1907-1908 
Bouldin Island Bass Hatchery (striped bass)} Bouldin Island, San Joaquin County-_----| 1907-1909 
Glen Alpinesiatchery! =" Se. S- oee e Gien Alpine Springs, El] Dorado County-_--| 1908-1913 
Bogus Creek Egg Collecting Station___-____- Klamath River, near Hornbrook, Siskiyou 
County, 222228 ee ae ee eee 1910- 
Klamathon Egg Collecting Station___________ Hornbrook, Siskiyou County_------------- 1910- 
Sacramento Experimental Salmon Hatchery_| Sacramento __----------------------_---___- 1911-1913 
Brookdale Hatchery (operated by county, 
1905 StO 1012) Saat ee eee ee Brookdale, Santa Cruz County (operated 
bY: state) 2. ee ee 1912- 
Scott Creek Egg Collecting Station (oper- 
ated by county, 1905 to 1912)___-_________- Scott Creek, Santa Cruz County_--------- 1912- 
Willow Creek Egg Collecting Station________ Thrall, Siskiyou Gounty=-2202---22ese—coo== 1912 
Camp Creek Egg Collecting Station_________ Siskiyou (Gon tyson seen ee ee 1912- 


CALIFORNIA FISH AND GAME. 99 


HATCHERIES AND EGG-COLLECTING STATIONS, 1870-1921—Concluded. 


| 
Name ik Location eee 
ipeatelake Nish Hatcheryes =n | Big Bear Lake, San Bernardino County_-| 1914—- 
Gottville Egg Collecting Station-__-_-------- USiskkivouCounbyes murs saloon sul 1914 
North Creek Egg Collecting Station_-_---_-__ ' Big Bear Lake, San Bernardino County-_-_| 1915- 
Burney Creek Egg Collecting Station-------- ' Near Burney, Shasta Co., on Pit River___| 1915 
Ward Canyon Egg Collecting Station__-____- ' Gopeo, Siskiyou County_---__-----_-----___ 1915 
Fort Seward sHatcherys==--=--2-2=2 22s Alderpoint, Humboldt County_-__-----____ | 1916- 
Marlette-Carson Hatchery_-----------------.. ' Garson City, Nevada (operated by Cali- 
fornia Fish and Game Commission). -__| 1916-1917 
Almanore Mish) Hatchery: ——---------. 2 =~ == Almanor Dam, Plumas County_____--.._-- 1916-1919 
Yuba City Experimental Shad Hatehery_-_! Yuba City) Sutter County2 1916 
Domingo Springs Hatchery_-_----------------- Ghester, Plumasi County. 2 se aoe | 1916- 
Rae Lakes Egg Collecting Station_-_----__--_ Rae’ Lakes, Fresno County_.___-_-.---.._ | 1917- 
Bryan’s Rest Egg Collecting Station___-___- | Bryan’s Rest, Humboldt County___-__--_- | 1917 
Mount Whitney, Hateheryo-- 2-2-2222 a Independence, Inyo County_--------------- 1917- 
Yosemite Experimental Hatchery---------_--. Yosemite, Mariposa County_---------.---- | 1918-1920 
Cottonwood Lakes Egg Collecting Station__'! Cottonwood Lakes, Inyo County______---- | 1918 
@lears@reek Hatchery ="--220-2---—— e Westwood, Lassen County__-—------------ | 1918- 
Feather River Experimental Hatchery_---_-- Grey Eagle Creek, Plumas County________| 1918 
Noroh? Oreek sHatchery#=-- == —-=-—-- ee Big Bear Lake, San Bernardino County-_-_| 1919- 
IVI) Onesie Nee ala ye ee ee ee Copeo}) Siskiyou! County--- 22-22-22 = 2 1919- 
Kaweahis Hatchery 2222222 s- s_-2 22. ae Hammond on Kaweah River, Tulare Co.__| 1919- 
Metcalf Creek Egg Collecting Station_-----_- Big Bear Lake, San Bernardino County_-| 1919- 
Bull Creek Egg Collecting Station___--__-__- Dyerville, Humboldt County_----------.--- 1919 
Grout Creek Egg Collecting Station_-_-----_ Big Bear Lake, San Bernardino County--| 1919- 
Warner Creek Egg Collecting Station_-_____~- Tejkrboneyce (Cfoyniel yeaa ee Se 1920 
Eel River Egg Collecting Station_-----_---_- Bransecomb, Mendocino County--------_- --| 1920- 
New tahoe Hatchenyoea sas a ane a a ane aan Tahoe City, Placer County_-_------------- 1920- 
Heather River biatcherys—22.- Johnsville, Plumas County —---=--—----- 1921- 
San Joaquin Experimental Station____--__-- PAOD OLIN oto oc eee ee el aes 1921 


FISHCULTURAL DEPARTMENT PERSONNEL. 


By HaArotp C. BRYANT. 


The fisheultural work of the state gained its initial impetus from the 
first commissioners, appointed in 1870, Messrs. B. B. Redding, 8. R. 
Throckmorton and J. O. Farwell. Because of their interest in stocking 
the streams with desirable food fishes, the hatching and rearing of fish 
received due encouragement. The first fisheulturist retained by the 
commission was Mr. J. G. Woodbury, who had been carrying on experi- 
ments in fish breeding for the California Acclimatization Society, and 
later for the United States Fish Commission. Mr. Woodbury devoted 
nearly twenty years of his life to the interests of fishculture in Cali- 
fornia. His principal work was done at Berkeley and San Leandro, 
where trout and salmon were reared, and at Clear Lake station, where 
the propagation of whitefish was attempted. Mr. Woodbury became 
first assistant to Dr. Livingston Stone at the time the government 
salmon-breeding station on the McCloud River was established in 1872. 
He was made State Superintendent of Hatcheries in 1888, and during 
the same year, with the assistance and advice of Dr. Livingston Stone 
and United States Commissioner Marshal McDonald, he located the 
Sisson Hatchery. The following year he located the hatchery at Tahoe 
City. 


100 CALIFORNIA FISH AND GAME, 


In 1891, desiring to engage in private business, Mr. J. G. Woodbury 
resigned as superintendent of hatcheries. In 1893, the board appointed 
Mr. John P. Babeock to fill the newly created position of chief deputy 
of the California Fish Commission, in which capacity Mr. Babcock 
acted from 1893 until 1901, when he resigned to accept a position with 
the government of British Columbia. 

The successful transportation of eggs and fry from Eastern states in 
the seventies was due to Dr. Livingston Stone, a fishculturist of the 
United States Fish Commission. On each of the several difficult trans- 
continental trips Dr. Stone proved that he understood the care of fish. 
As much of acclimatization work was a cooperative project by the 
United States Fish Commission and the California Fish Commission, 
Dr. Stone was at times under the employ of the California commission. 
This was true also when he became superintendent of the McCloud 
River Hatchery, for the California commission bore a portion of the cost 
of hatching and planting the salmon. 

Mr. J. A. Richardson, who had been employed by the United States 
commission at the Baird Hatchery, and who was an assistant at the San 
Leandro Hatchery, was made Superintendent of the Shebley Hatchery 
when it was built in 1883. Mr. Richardson resigned in the fall of the 
same year, and Mr. I. C. Frazier was appointed to succeed him. Mr. 
Frazier was a successful and competent fishculturist, who had been a 
student of fish life for a great many years. In the early seventies he 
associated himself with some of the acclimatization societies and later 
established a hatchery, with rearing ponds, on the Truckee River. In 
1884, owing to ill health, he resigned as superintendent of the Shebley 
Hatchery, and Mr. J. V. Shebley was appointed superintendent. In 
1885, Mr. J. V. Shebley was appointed Superintendent of Hatcheries, 
and Mr. W. H. Shebley succeeded him at the Shebley Hatchery. Mr. 
Frazier later became superintendent of the Tahoe Hatchery, and 
Mr. Richardson was again employed as an assistant. 

When the Sisson Hatchery was built, in 1888, Mr. J. A. Richardson 
was appointed superintendent, and he managed the station until 1893, 
when Mr. W. H. Shebley succeeded him. The largest hatchery in Cali- 
fornia, and in some respects the largest in the United States, was for 
twenty-one years under the efficient supervision of Mr. W. H. Shebley. 
As superintendent he demonstrated that millions of trout could be 
successfully reared each year without serious loss. 

The pioneer work of introducing the first shipments of trout in the 
barren waters of the Yosemite region was carried on by Mr. Shebley, 
who introduced the first fish in the waters above the valley in 1892. 

In November, 1911, the commission created the office of fishculture 
and distribution, and Mr. Shebley was assigned to this new division of 
the work. <A suecessful organization of this department was soon 
accomplished, with the division of screens and fishways, as part of the 
department of fisheulture. As the duties of this work required Mr. 
Shebley to be away much of the time, Mr. R. W. Requa was made 
assistant superintendent of the Sisson Hatchery, and he very ably 
assisted in conducting the work of the station. Being a_ skilled 
mechanic, Mr. Requa invented and perfected the rotary type of screen 
used in irrigation ditches. 


CALIFORNIA FISH AND GAME. 101 


The success of early experiments and the efficiency of the present 
fishcultural department have been due largely to the untiring care and 
energy of Mr. W. H. Shebley. There is no one in America who 
possesses greater knowledge of fishcultural methods. Present fisheul- 
tural methods and the system of rearing ponds installed at the Mount 
Shasta Hatchery will always be a monument to his ingenuity. 

On March 1, 1916, the office of the department of fishculture was 
transferred from Sisson to San Francisco. Extensive fishcultural oper- 
ations demanded a more centrally located section. Mr. E. W. Hunt was 
appointed field superintendent of the department of fishculture, and 
Mr. J. H. Hoerl chief clerk. Mr. Shebley was succeeded as superin- 
tendent of the Sisson Hatchery by Captain G. H. Lambson, who for 
seventeen years was superintendent of the United States Bureau of 
Fisheries stations in California. 

The hatcheries at Lake Tahoe were for twenty years under the super- 
vision of Mr. E. W. Hunt, who is a fisheulturist of long standing and 
a man of keen business ability. The results of his management are 
evident now in the well-stocked lakes and streams of the region. Since 
1916 Mr. Hunt, as field superintendent, has done most of the inspection 
and advisory work at the various hatcheries. 

The work at Ukiah was for many years very capably handled by Mr. 
A. V. La Motte. 

For many years Mr. M. L. Cross had charge of the Wawona Hatchery 
and directed the distribution that has placed trout in hundreds of miles 
of streams and thousands of acres of lakes in the previously barren 
areas lying above and beyond the Yosemite Valley. As a hatchery man, 
his work was always above criticism. 

For many years previous to his death in 1918, Mr. F. A. Shebley was 
a trusted fisheulturist of the commission. He was the son of Califor- 
nia’s first famous fisheulturist, and had succeeded before his death, in 
company with his brother, William H. Shebley, in making a reputation 
in the same line of endeavor as great, if not greater, than that of the 
father who had gone before. As a boy he followed farming on his 
father’s place, but for twenty-five years he was identified exclusively 
with fisheulture in connection with the California Fish and Game Com- 
mission, and there were few men on the Pacific slope who knew as 
much about fish and fishing in the waters of the rivers and bays as he. 
At various times he was superintendent of the Price Creek hatchery in 
Humboldt County and the Brookdale Hatchery in Santa Cruz County, 
and later the new Mount Whitney Hatchery in Inyo County. Under 
his management the Brookdale Hatchery became very popnlar and was 
sought out by sportsmen from all over California as a place of great 
interest. Also interested in angling as a sport, he was a master of the 
fly rod and a skilled angler. 

In 1900 Mr. W. O. Fassett was appointed superintendent of Eel 
River Hatchery, and under his management the station was a continued 
success. In more recent years Mr. Fassett has had charge of all of the 
fisheultural operations along the north coast. 

In October, 1901, Mr. Charles A. Vogelsang was appointed chief 
deputy of the California Fish and Game Commission, following the 
resignation of Mr. J. P. Babcock. During the administration of Mr. 
Vogelsang as executive officer of the commission (1901-1910) a number 


102 CALIFORNIA FISH AND GAME. 


of practical improvements were put into effect; the Sisson and the 
Tahoe stations were enlarged and improved; the hunting license law was 
passed, which placed at the command of the commission an increased 
amount of funds that could be devoted to the propagation and protec- 
tion of the fish and game; the fish-distributing car was built; the game 
farm was established, and other improvements were made. In the 
earrying out of all of this work Mr. Vogelsang teok an active part. He 
resigned in 1910, but was reappointed executive officer in 1920 and held 
that position until March, 1922. 

There have been many other faithful hatchery employees, but their 
vears of service have been more limited. 


THE RETURN OF MARKED KING SALMON GRILSE. 
By J. O. SNypER, Stanford University. 


Twenty-three marked king salmon grilse were taken at the Klamathon 
racks last fall. This is the first result of a marking experiment initi- 
ated in 1918 by W. H. Shebley, in charge of fishculture. A complete 
account of the marking of these fish, as published in CALIFORNIA FISH 
AND GAME, July, 1920, may be summarized here. From king salmen 
egos taken in Mill Creek, a tributary of the Sacramento River, in 
November, 1918, and hatched at Fall Greek Hatchery on Klamath River 
in February, 1919, 250,000 fish were placed in a rearing pond. In 
November, 1919, these were liberated in Klamath River, after 25,000 of 
them were marked by removing the adipose and right ventral fins 
(Fig. 40). It appears that the marking was successfully accomplished 
and that the fish were liberated under the best conditions. Some of 
these were expected to return as grilse in 1921, and later as older fish. 

The marked fish appeared at Klamathon, where they were stopped by 
the racks, from October 24 to November 14, when the last one was 
taken. Of the last ones secured, Captain Lembson remarks, ‘‘Two 
were in very fine condition, as if lately from salt water.’’ These fish 
measured from 154 to 244 inches to the end of the middle caudal rays. 
All were mature males. 

Seales of these marked fish, together with mutilated fins, were care- 
fully preserved by E. V. Cassell, foreman of the Fall Creek Hatchery. 
This material and a considerable amount of necessary data were assem- 
bled and forwarded to the writer by Captain G. H. Lambson. There- 
fore the record of each specimen is accurate and complete. 

A photomicrograph of a scale of one of these grilse is here presented 
as figure 43. An examination of this scale will reveal some peculiarities 
of structure. It will be seen that a well-defined inner part or nucleus, 
A, is composed of 11 or 12 concentric rings or cireuli, which are closely 
apposed and in some places broken or branched. Outside the nucleus 
and surrounding it is a broad area of more-regularly formed cireuli, 
which are at the same time much wider. This area, which may be 
designated A-D in the figure, is bounded at D by a crowded condition 
of the cireuli. Beyond this area is a third region, D-E, the cireuli of 


103 


AND GAME. 


CALIFORNIA FISH 


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S]UNWIIIedxe Ul SuLyIeU JO poyJeU SUIMOYS ‘UOW[VS Surly JO SsuIMmeVIp 9UITINO 


Yj6ua} 3094409 


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104 CALIFORNIA FISH AND GAME. 


which are still wider than the others. This region extends to the edge 
of the seale, which is rough and broken. In the area marked A-D the 
cireuli are not altogether homogeneous in character, for at B and also 
at C, two or three of them are closely apposed or narrower than the 
others. These are the principal structural features of this particular 
seale. 

Seales from the other marked grilse possess very similar character- 
istics. These present the same type of nucleus, which is surrounded by 
two distinct outer areas, the inner of which is much like that of the seale 
just described. The nucleus, when followed through the entire series 
of 23 scales, is seen to possess the same closely crowded or narrow cir- 
euli, although they vary in number from 8 to 14. The area designated 


Fic. 41. The racks at Klamathon, between which the returning grilse were 
trapped. Photograph by HE. A. McGregor. 


as A-D is in cases wider or narrower, but it preserves more or less 
definitely the same features. The outer area, D-E, varies greatly in 
width, in some cases being scarcely represented. The irregular edge 
and the variable width of this outer area are due to absorption which 
the stale has undergone, it having suffered as have some other tissues 
of the body during the long and difficult migration from the sea, which 
was performed without food. In grilse taken at the mouth of the river 
this portion of the scale is perfect, as is illustrated by figure 44. 

It will be of interest to attempt an interpretation of some of the 
structural features which are apparent in these scales, even in the face 
of the possibility that such interpretation may not be wholly supported 
by additional data which it is hoped the future will provide, In the 


CALIFORNIA FISH AND GAME. 105 


first place, we know that the fish is in its third year, and by the appli- 
cation of the well-tested criteria of investigators of scale growth, it may 
be safely stated that the nucleus represents roughly the growth of the 
first year, the area A-D that of the second, and D-E the third, a part 
of the latter having been effaced by absorption. 

The nuclear growth record as traced in these seales is exactly dupli- 
eated by that of scales removed from some small yearlings of the same 
lot at the time of their liberation. Such scales are represented by 
figure 46. 

The nucleus of the scale represented by figure 43 is much lke that 
of a naturally spawned fish which has spent its first year in the river. 


Fic. 42. Spawning operations at Klamathon. E. V. Cassell, taking eggs from 
a female king salmon. Photograph by E. A. McGregor. 


A seale that is believed to be of such an individual is represented by 
figure 44. This type of nucleus is very different from that of a salmon 
which entered the sea at an earlier period in its life, near the time that 
scales make their appearance. A scale of such a fish which was taken 
in its third year is shown in figure 43, where the first year’s growth 
extends to A. 

Attention was directed to the lack of homogeneity in the area A-D, 
which is presumed to represent the growth history of the second year. 
Two very evident intermediate checks appear, one at B, the other and 
later one at C. The area enclosed by the check B is composed of cireuli 
which are somewhat narrower than the others, possibly characteristic 
of slower growth. It might be presumed that this area is one of river 
growth, attained while the fish lingered in the estuary, where food 


106 CALIFORNIA FISH AND GAME. 


abounds. It is not strictly characteristic of estuary growth, however, 
as illustrated by fish taken at or near the mouth of Klamath River. 
In the latter part of August, and probably much earlier, yearling 
salmon appear in the estuary, where they linger and grow very rapidly. 
Some specimens measuring 200 millimeters and iooking much like min- 
jature salmon from the sea were collected in September. A scale from 
one of these is shown in figure 47. In this scale a nucleus, A, is appar- 
ent, which is surrounded by an area of wider cireuli. From facts 
learned from observation of these fish, this region is undoubtedly rep- 
resentative of estuary growth, and a comparison of this with the area 
A-B would searcely lead to a similar interpretation for the latter. It 
seems more probable that after being liberated this fish hastened on his 
long journey to the sea, growing very little, if any, on the downward 
passage. 

While in the sea during the second year, two checks in growth 
occurred, due to what cause we have no means of knowing. Near the 
end of the second year a check normally appears. This is represented 
at D. Abundant material from Monterey Bay shows that this check 
usually develops in the winter or early spring, not appearing in all 
individuals at the same time. 

The intermediate checks offer nothing remarkable, as somewhat 
similar characters may be easily found in any large assemblage of king 
salmon seales. They might be passed over as indicating that some event 
in the life of the fish, temporary searcity of food, for example, had 
served to interrupt or cheek its normal growth at a particular time. 
But in this they deserve further consideration, as will appear. 

Of the twenty-three marked salmon which were recovered, no less 
than seventeen possessed scales which in every essential detail were 
like that illustrated in figure 43. That the nuclei should be much alike 
occasions no surprise, for all were reared alike, and consequently envi- 
ronmental conditions were similar for all while the nuclear growth pro- 
gressed, but that this detailed resemblance should continue in such a 
fared way through the second year is worthy of attention. 

Under an hypothesis that the growth of the fish is reflected by ihe 
erowth of the scale, and that growth is influenced by environment, the 
assumption follows that all of these fish must have been in contact with 
the same environmental conditions during the second year. It would 
appear not at all improbable that they schooled together. This suggests 
the possibility that associations formed in the stream may continue in 
a large measure throughout life in the sea. The four-year fish of this 
marking, if any are caught, will furnish additional data of interest in 
this connection. They will also bring a record of me third year, which 
in these grilse is largely effaced. 

Seales of the remaining marked fish differ in a minor degree only 
from the others by having a more or less well-defined check about half 
way between those marked B and C in figure 43. 

As 250,000 fish were liberated, of which 25,000 were marked, the 
return of ten unmarked individuals with every marked one might 
be expected. Unfortunately, scales were preserved. from very few 
unmarked grilse while the marked ones were being taken. However, 
among those that were preserved are two which show the same charac- 
teristic scale structure as the marked ones. A photomicrograph of one 


PGA TET. 


Fic. 43. Photomicrograph of a scale of a marked king salmon grilse which returned 
to Klamathon racks in 1921. 


a 


PLATE II. 


Fic. 44. Scale of a male king salmon in third year. From Klamath Estuary. 


ia 


fi 


— A 
a an 
> = 


= 
Le 
=< 
Eon 
ih 
’ 
ps 


PLATE III. 


Fic. 45. Secale of a male king salmon in third year; ocean type of nucleus. 


Fic. 46. Scale of a yearling king salmon 84 millimeters long. One of a marked 
lot of fish which was preserved at the time the others were liberated. 


Fic. 47. Seale of a yearling king salmon measuring 200 millimeters, showing 
estuary growth. 


= 


iG 
’ 
y 
i 


PLATE IV. 


Fic. 48. Scale of an unmarked grilse which was liberated with marked ones in 


Klamath River. 


is) 


@ 


i 


a, 


PLATE V. 


Fic. 49. Scales of marked (34622) and unmarked (34465) king salmon grilse 
which returned to Klamathon racks in 1921. 


; a 
be “ a 


< 


\\ UU MT. 


PLATE VI. 


old marked king salmon recovered in Klamath 


Seale of a five-year- 


50. 


FG. 


River in 1919. 


/ 


CALIFORNIA FISH AND GAME. 107 


is shown as figure 48. A comparison of this with figure 43 is made 
easy in figure 49, where selected parts of each are placed side by side. 
There is here demonstrated the possibility of recognizing unmarked fish 
which are liberated with marked ones, providing all were treated alike, 
and this will warrant the close scrutiny of a great many four-year fish 
which enter the Klamath a year hence, especially at the Klamathon 
racks, where all that escape the vicissitudes of sea and river may be 
expected to arrive. 

In 1919 a single marked fish was obtained in the Klamath estuary as 
the only result of an experiment initiated in 1916. An account of this 
experiment reads as follows (CALIFORNIA FISH AND GAME, Vol. 2, No. 4, 
p. 209) : ‘On February 15, 1916, 3500 marked yearling quinnat salmon 
were liberated in the Klamath River at Klamathon. They were hatched 
at the Sisson Hatchery from eggs taken on Butte (meaning Battle) 
Creek in November, 1914. Each was marked by removing the left 
ventral and the adipose fin. It is expected that a few of these will be 
recovered in the Klamath River in 1917 as male grilse, and that both 
males and females will be taken in 1918, 1919 and 1920 as 4, 5 and 
6-year-old fish.’’ The single fish recovered was first observed by Henry 
Jackson, an employee in the cannery of the Klamath River Packers 
Association at Requa, August 29, 1919. The specimen was presented 
to an agent of the Fish and Game Commission by Mr. G. R. Field. It 
measured 43 inches and weighed 35 pounds. Its age is plainly shown 
by the character of one of its scales in figure 50. Because of unfor- 
tunate circumstances, no very definite effort was made to recover 
marked fish from this experiment until it was aimost too late, and the 
very meagre results serve to illustrate the futility of initiating an 
experiment when not fully prepared to closely follow it up. 

The experimental planting of 1919 now gives promise of unusually 
good results, and no reasonable effort should be spared to secure full 
data relating to it. Fish bearing its mark may appear along the coast 
in the catches of trollers, and thus offer some evidence relating to the 
contribution of Klamath salmon to sea fisheries. It is known that 
Klamath fish are caught at sea, as salmon on entering the river bring 
from time to time mute evidence in the form of embedded hooks, and 
even entire spoons, which look like those used in sea trolling to the 
southward. 

This particular experiment is part of an effort of the Fish and Game 
Commission to accumulate facts relating to the habits and distribution 
of the king salmon which shall contribute toward the conservation and 
maintenance of the fishery. It is of interest to fisherman, dealer, 
packer and consumer alike, and no opportunity should be lost to con- 
tribute to its results. Any one so fortunate as to catch one of these fish 
should make an accurate note of it. He should measure its length 
from the snout to the end of the middle part of the tail (see figure 40), 
determine its sex, cut the mutilated fins from the body, including a 
liberal piece of skin, scrape a hundred or so seales from near the middle 
of its side, write down the date and exact locality of capture, the name 
and address, and mail the entire data to the Fish and Game Commis- 
sion. The fins should be well salted, and the scales may be spread out 
between two papers. 


108 CALIFORNIA FISH AND GAME. 


THE WHY AND HOW OF MOUNTAIN LION HUNTING IN 
CALIFORNIA. 


By JAY Bruce, State Mountain Lion Hunter. 


The importance of the control of the mountain lion (Felis concolor) 
as an aid in game-conservation can be appreciated when it is realized 
that the present lion population of California is scientifically estimated 
to be about 600 lions, and their annual kill of deer 30,000 head. This 
is over twice the number known to be killed by human hunters. Since 
does are probably about five times as numerous as bucks, a lion has five 
chances to kill a doe for one chance to kill a buck. So, naturally, most 
of the deer killed by lions are the breeding stock of females. 

Although deer form their principal food, ons also kill thousands of 
dollars worth of domestic stock every year, even including full grown 
cattle. In fact, no animal in California is entirely exempt from the 
bloodthirsty instincts of these animals. I know definitely of lions hav- 
ing killed and eaten foxes, skunks, coons, porcupines and bobcats. 
I also have reliable information of several instances where lions have 
killed and eaten domestic dogs, while two lions now in captivity in the 
Yosemite Valley killed and ate a cub bear which managed to get into 
the lions’ cage from his own adjoining cage. 

The lion problem has been intensified by the establishment of a chain 
of game refuges where no public hunting is allowed. The breeding 
stock of deer and other game is fast increasing in these areas, and nat- 
urally the ons accumulate there. Since the lon’s instinet is to kill 
at every opportunity, the most damage will be dene where deer are most 
numerous. 

In order to meet this condition a high state bounty was advocated. 
It seemed doubtful, however, whether a $100 bounty would attract 
enough hunters to confer a benefit anywhere in proportion to the addi- 
tional cost, as will be shown later. Another method of control consid- 
ered was the employment of experienced lion hunters on a regular sal- 
ary, plus the present bounty. As an experiment along this line the 
writer was employed by the California Fish and Game Commission, on 
January 1, 1919. This system costs only about $2000 per year, as 
against the $15,000 by the increased bounty, and lions are killed where 
there is the most need of killing them. The main object of the plan 
adopted was to control the lions in game refuges, and then to answer 
any calls where lions were doing unusual damage. During the last 
three years I have accounted for ninety lions, as follows: 1919, twenty- 
six lhons; 1920, thirty lions; 1921, thirty-four lions. Most of these 
were taken in and around game refuges. Since October, 1908, the 
California Fish and Game Commission has been paying a bounty of 
$20° for each mountain lion killed. Claims for such bounty are made 
on blanks furnished by the commission, and every claimant has been 
requested to furnish the commission with a written statement showing 
where the lion was killed, why it was killed, the damage done by the 


NotTgE.—There have been few articles appearing in CALIFORNIA FISH AND GAME of 
more general interest than the one offered here, written by a man who probably knows 
more about the habits of the mountain lion than any other Westerner. In bagging 
121 lions, Mr. Bruce has traveled on foot over 10,000 miles, hunting, trailing, and 
studying their habits.—Eprror, 


CALIFORNIA FISH AND GAME. 109 


lion, methods used in taking him, and the sex of the animal. In July, 
1917, the bounty on female lions was raised to $30 per head. 

The information sent in by claimants for bounty indicates that nearly 
all of these hons were killed either accidentally or because they were 
doing damage to stock, and not on account of the bounty. Now if the 
bounty were raised to $100 per lion, the state would be paying $75 more 
on an average for each lion now killed under the present bounty, and 
this would amount to about $15,000 annually. 

From the foregoing it might be argued that the present bounty is 
useless and should be abolished, so let us examine and see what benefit 


Fic. 51. One hundred and fifty pound male lion treed near Lynchburg ranger’s 
station, Placer County, November 1, 1921. 


is derived from this expenditure. It is evident that no situation can 
be handled intelligently or with efficiency without accurate data as a 
basis for action. Now on account of the bounty of $20 paid since 1908, 
the commission has been furnished with the following data: 

The number of lions killed during the last thirteen years; 

The proportionate number of these killed from year to year under 
a given condition, which should indicate the comparative lon popu- 
lation ; 

The damage known to have been done by each lion; 

The methods used in taking the animal; 

The percentage of each sex killed since 1917. 

These data are of immense value in any effort to control the lion, and 
are now being used to advantage for that purpose by the commission. 
For instance, we find from an examination of these data that the range 
of the lion on the western slope of the Sierra Nevada Mountains 
between Siskiyou County and Kern County, is confined to a straight 
belt about fifteen miles wide by section lines, and at an elevation 
between 3000 and 5000 feet above sea level and averaging 4000 feet. 
The same elevation will apply to the range of the lion in the Coast 


110 CALIFORNIA FISH AND GAME. 


Range Mountains. All the country above or below this belt can be 
eliminated as lion country for all practical hunting purposes. 

The lion does not habitually follow some of the deer to the higher 
mountains in summer and other deer to the foothills in winter, as many 
people suppose. This lon belt is so well defined in the Sierra that we 
ean draw a straight line through the center of the belt, from a point 
in Siskiyou County to a point in Kern County, and it would be pos- 
sible for a hunter to camp along this line and kill approximately every 
lion on the western slope of the Sierra. Of course a lion will ocea- 
sionally stray out of this belt temporarily, but he soon returns, for his 
natural home is there. The lion probably selects this belt because it is 
the natural home of the deer. The variety of ceanothus, commonly 


Fic. 52. A large 160-pound male lion which measured 7 feet 33 inches. Killed near 
Avery, Calaveras County, in March, 1921. Photograph by L. V. Peterson. 


ealled deer brush, which is the principal food for deer, grows in abun- 
dance in this belt between 3000 and 5000 feet elevation. The deer that 
summer higher winter here, and those that winter below summer here. 
Most of the deer stay here all the year, so this area is the best all-year 
range for them. In other words, the maximum deer population is to 
be found in this area. For this reason the lioness selects some place 
in this belt when her young are to be born. She usually has two or 
three kittens, although sometimes only one, and occasionally four, are 
born in a litter. On account of many females not mating every year, 
the yearly increase probably averages one kitten for each adult female. 
The lair is usually located around some bluff or pile of rocks, which 
furnishes places for shelter and concealment of the kittens when small. 

In my experience, the kittens are born in either February, April, 
August or November. The mother nurses them for about two months, 
and probably brings them some food in her stomach during that time. 


CALIFORNIA FISH AND GAME. aia 


After they are weaned she makes a kill and moves the kittens to it, 
leaving them to eat it while she goes away hunting. She continues 
moving the kittens from kill to kill until they are about six months old 
and weigh about 35 pounds for females and 50 pounds for males, by 
actual seale weight. They now hunt part of the time with their mother 
until they are about a year old and weigh about 65 pounds for females 
and 80 pounds for males. The mother then abandons them. The 
kittens sometimes continue to hunt together for a few months longer, 
when they finally separate, selecting different beats, but still in the 
same belt where conditions are the same as where they were raised. 

When fully matured the male weighs from 140 to 160 pounds and 
measures from 64 feet to 74 feet from tip of nose to tip of tail. The 
female weighs from 90 to 105 pounds and measures from 6 feet to 7 feet 
from tip to tip. These are actual scale weights end tape measurements. 

The adult male accompanies the female only during the mating period 
and does not help to feed and care for the young. Lions do not make 
their kills by lying in wait on the limbs of trees and springing from 
there. In fact, I have never known of a lion climbing a tree except to 
avoid the dogs. They tirelessly hunt and stalk their quarry on the 
ground, taking advantage of every cover, and finally rushing from a 
distance of 40 or 50 feet. This distance is covered in about a second. 
A 100-pound lion moving at a velocity of 40 feet per second will strike 
a blow sufficient to prostrate a yearling steer. The heavy muscles of 
the lion’s neck, shoulder and forepaws are tense for the blow, and easily 
absorb the shock that prostrates his unsuspecting victim, which is then 
killed by being disemboweled. The liver is eaten first, and then the 
loins and hams. An examination of probably 100 deer killed by lions 
showed no evidence of the lion having touched the throat of any of 
these kills. 

I have found the lion to be normally a solitary and invariably a silent 
animal. J have never heard that hair-raising scream the lion is sup- 
posed to utter, and I do not believe it makes any loud sounds, but that 
the noises usually attributed to it are made by owls and coyotes. On 
one occasion of which I know, about fifty guests at a mountain resort 
were listening one evening to the braying of a mule colt, and were told 
in good faith that they were hearing a mountain lion scream. Every 
one of these people, including their informant, probably believes to this 
day that they were hearing a lion. 

Some writers have condemned the mountain lion as being cowardly 
and unwilling to attack in the open, but they lose sight of the fact that 
the cat family is short-winded and unable to capture its prey by running 
it down as the dog family does. If the lion should openly approach 
his prey and challenge it to combat, his intended victim would imme- 
diately take to flight, leaving the lion to go hungry. His only means 
of making a living is to surprise his quarry. In a fight to the death, 
the mountain lion is more game than the black bear. He will fight with 
his last breath, when the black bear will quit and cover his head with 
his paws and bawl like a ealf. 

The most reliable method of taking lions is trailing with dogs, and 
the best dogs for this purpose are fox hounds. <A hunter requires at 
least four dogs, which must be highly trained on lions and thoroughly 
proof on deer and other game, as there are probably a thousand head 


12 CALIFORNIA FISH AND GAME. 


of deer and other game combined, for each lion. The dogs are used in 
pairs, allowing each pair to rest every second day, as a dog uses so much 
energy in running, baying and wagging his tail during ten or twelve 
hours of trailing that he needs one day’s rest for each day of work. 
Furthermore, a dog’s feet will not stand continuous hunting. 

To be successful, lion hunting must be done intensively. Since a hon 
does most of his prowling at night, the hunter must leave camp early 
and travel fast, in order to find a fresh trail and have the most hours 
of daylight to trail the lion down, as a person can neither travel to 
advantage in the mountains after dark, nor see tracks when necessary 
to help the dogs. A lion travels a regular beat over about 100 square 
miles, usually making his round about every four or five days, so as 
soon as some part of this beat is learned, the hunter has a clue to 


Fic. 53. Mountain lion scratches. 


work by. Since the dogs can smell only a reasonably fresh track, the 
hunter can not depend entirely upon their sense of smell to find the 
trail, but must always watch the ground carefully for any old signs 
which would indicate the places where a lion had-been traveling. 

.The signs left by lions are fresh or old kills, dung and tracks, and if 
a male is traveling a beat the plainest sign will be marks about a quar- 
ter to a half mile apart along the beat and apparently made by the 
lion digging with his forepaws in the dead leaves near the base of a 
tree or in the rotten wood near an old log (see figure 53). These marks 
are all alike and can not be mistaken for anything else when once 
learned; they are made only by the male and are a sure indication to 


CALIFORNIA FISH AND GAME. 113 


the hunter of the sex of the animal he is trailing. After some part of 
the lion’s beat has been learned, that part must be hunted first every 
day, continuing the hunt then from there. If one day is missed and 
the lion passes, the track may be too old for the dogs when it is found 
the next day, and this may mean four or five days before the trail is 
again found fresh enough for the dogs to follow. A dog can not follow 
any but a very fresh trail on hot and dry ground or in dust, so the 
hunter must use his eyes to help the dogs past such places. In the 
cool, damp weather of winter a twenty-four hour trail can usually be 
suecessfully followed, while in the hot, dry weather of summer a six- 
hour trail is found difficult. When snow is on the ground, trailing is 


Fic. 54. Doe and fawn killed by mountain lion near Bear River on north fork 
of Mokelumne River. 


easy and a four or five-day-old track should be followed, as a lion may 
make a kill at any point on his beat and may have returned for a feed, 
allowing the hunter to get a fresh track at the kill. I estimate that 
while killing 120 lions I advanced an average of about fifteen miles 
the day the lion was killed. This distance does not take into account 
many loops made in looking for tracks when it was necessary to help 
the dogs. Many times I have trailed a lion this distance each day for 
three or four days before bagging him. Several times I have advanced 
twenty-five miles, and once thirty miles, the day I got the hon. Gen- 
erally the hunter travels on foot over 100 miles for each hon killed. 
T estimate that on the average trail my dogs will travel about five times 
the distance advanced. To me it is very interesting to watch a hound 
on the trail. He rushes along with nose close to the ground, head 
sweeping from side to side and tail wagging furiously, stopping sud- 
denly as he catches the scent, smelling intensely for a moment to make 
sure, then throwing up his head and baying loudly as he rushes ahead 
for a hundred feet or so, then trying again for the scent, and circling 
until the trail is located. Now another rush ahead, and so on for 
twelve or fourteen hours, or until the constant baying indicates that 


114 CALIFORNIA FISH AND GAME. 


the lion has been routed out of his bed and is making away, with the 
dogs in close pursuit. The hunter knows when the hon is finally treed, 
by the changed note in the baying of the dogs and by the fact that the 
baying comes continually from one place. On arriving at the tree, he 
can see anywhere from 100 to 160 pounds of cat, standing among the 
branches, usually about 30 feet above the ground. The lion may be 
just watching the dogs with interest, or he may be very angry, which 
is indicated by his constant growling. 

At the erack of the gun, out he goes, and even though shot through 
the heart he may still be able to seriously injure a dog. For this 
reason it is best to tie the dogs before shooting. 

It is quite an exciting experience to see a wounded adult lion on the 
geround, trying to hold at bay from two to four frantic dogs. Every 
moment will be full of action, as the dogs attack from different direc- 
tions and the lion continually turns to meet each attack. All the while 
he is growling and spitting savagely, his ears flat back, mouth wide 
open, claws unsheathed and hair and tail standing up. If the dogs 
crowd him too closely he turns over on his back and fights with his 
mouth and all four feet at the same time. Now is the time for the 
hunter to rush into the fray, shove his gun between the frantic dogs 
and get in a fatal shot. 


BLACK BASS SHIPMENT TO MEXICO. 


By Grorce NEALE, Executive Officer, California Fish and Game Commission. 


In 1909, at the request of the Mexican government, Mr. Chas. A. 
Vogelsang, at that time chief deputy of the California Fish and Game 
Commission, made arrangements for the shipment of black bass to Lake 
Chapala, Mexico. 

The California Fish and Game Commission’s distribution car No. 1, 
in charge of the writer, left Fresno early in December, 1909, with 
ninety-two cans containing about 1800 adult black bass. Some weighed 
as much as three pounds. After many delays, Ocotlan, on the shore of 
Lake Chapala in the Mexican state of Jalisco, was reached. Here the 
first planting was made. Seventy-two cans were transferred to lighters, 
which were towed by launches to the south end of the lake, w here the 
fish were liberated. Some of them immediately began feeding on the 
minnows. 

We were then taken to the governor’s palace on the shore of Lake 
Chapala, and were lavishly entertained by Governor Landa. Accom- 
panied by the governor’s quartette of guitarists, we returned to Ocotlan 
after midnight in a terrific blow. 

‘Lake Chapala is a magnificent body of water, eae but not so beau- 
tiful as our own Lake Tahoe. It contains a food fish known as the 
whitefish, which differs from our whitefish in that it is transparent. 
But it furnishes a fine food for the black bass, which food is most neces-. 
sary to insure increase. Lake Chapala is also said to contain carp, but 
we did not see any. This lake should now (eleven years after the plant- 
ing of these black bass) be an anglers’ paradise for those who know 
how to lure the fish, which are, as Dr. Henshall states, ‘‘inch for inch, 
pound for pound, the gamiest fish that swims.’’ 


CALIFORNIA FISH AND GAME. 115 


Our next stop was at a small lake a few miles north of Mexico City, 
in which we planted twenty cans of black bass. We accomplished all 
this with the loss of but two fish. 

We were met at Mexico City and taken to dinner at the magnificent 
restaurant ‘‘Chapultepec,’’ at the foot of the castle of the same name, 
which once was the home of Montezuma. We quartered at the St. 


Fie. 55. Planting black bass in Lake Chapala, Mexico. 


Francis Hotel, then a magnificent hostelry of the old Mexican type, and 
were royally entertained by the government. While there an amusing 
incident occurred, which illustrates the manner in which we were 
entertained. After signing the meal check, showing what we had 
received and the cost of the same, which was paid by the Mexican gov- 
ernment, our interpreter came to us and said, ‘‘We observe there is 
no wine or liquor charged. Is it because you do not drink wines or 
liquors, or do we not have the kind you are used to drinking? If not, 
we will get the brands you care most for.’’ We thanked him and 


i 
: Te 
Pe cata ore NTT) waveue me 
* -~ “ 


PP ate i-% 
ale eT AO? maven 


Fic. 56. Scenes at a bull fight at which employees of Fish and Game Commission 
were guests after conveying California black bass to Mexico City for planting. 


116 CALIFORNIA FISH AND GAME. 


assured him that nothing but our modesty had prevented us from 
ordering the most select wines. 

Automobiles were placed at our disposal. The Christmas festivities 
were in full blast, and we had special seats for the opera, ‘‘The Merry 
Widow,’’ also seats at the bull fight, which was attended by President 
Diaz and 48,000 people. We shall always wish to forget the bull fight. 
We were unable to leave the arena, so were compelled to witness some 
of the most shocking brutality and cruelty ever perpetrated. Thirteen 
magnificent bulls were slowly tortured to death. Eleven horses were 
gored and dragged out of the arena alive, their entrails protruding, 
amid the plaudits of 48,000 representative citizens. It is puzzling to 
know that people possessing such qualities of refinement and hospitality 
ean witness such brutality. 

Believing that it would be of interest to obtain information as to 
the success of the planting in Lake Chapala, the Mexican consul in San 
Francisco was appealed to, with the result that the following interesting 
reports were received : 


(TRANSLATION. ) 


Government of the Free and Sovereign State of Jalisco. 
Section Fourth, No. 16582. 


To the Consul General of Mexico, 
519 California Street, San Francisco, California. 


Referring to your attentive communication dated October 31st last, by which you 
request information as to the success attained in acclimatizing in the Lake of 
Chapala the fish called black bass (lobina), I beg to inform you that I have, on 
my part, requested this information from the city mayors of the lake cities and 
their replies were the following: 

Chapala Mayor’s report: 

“T have the honor to refer to your respectable communication issued by Section 
4th dated on the 12th inst. and in reply to it I beg to inform you that in the 
Shapala Lake can be found the fish called BLACK BASS, in short number being 
more abundant toward la Cienega, La Palma and Jamau as I have been informed ; 
in this place are caught very few of them due to the fact the fish named Carp 
(CARPA) fight them to death destroying either the fish itself or their spawn, being 
more destructive in the latter case which danger has not been possible to avoid on 
account of the latter named fish Carp is a courageous fighter against the other less 
warlike fishes as is the case with the WHITE FISH, BLACK BASS and other 
named CHARAL. This is, in my opinion, the cause that the fish in question is not 
more abundant, although I believe in its acclimatizing.” 

Jocotepee Mayor’s reported on the 20th inst: 

“Informed.to my satisfaction from the most prominent fishers of the Lake of 
Chapala, in this region, I haye the honor to say in response to your communication 
No. 9508, issued by Section 4th on the 12th instant that: on the shores of said 
Lake within the limits of this Municipality, they have not fished the BLACK BASS 
(Lobina) or Delicious fish that is known but it is believed it can be found in Jamay 
or in the emptying of the Rio Grande into the Lake.” 

Jainay Mayor’s reported on the 29th inst. as follows: 

‘In reply to your communication No, 9509, issued by Section 4th on the 12th 
inst. I state that after the investigations made in order to find if the fish known 
by the name of LOBINA the fishermen of this place only informed me on the fishes 
they fish in this part of the Lake, viz: BAGRHE in very short amount, the WHITE ; 
FISH very scarcely and that the fish named Carp is the more abundant.” 

‘'Tuxcueca Mayor on the 20th inst reported: 

[ogy beg to inform that respectable Government that in the region of Lake Chapala 
within the jurisdiction of this Municipality the fish known by the name of LOBINA 
has not been found and that I ignore whether this fish is to be found in any of the 
other Municipalities around the lake.” 


CALIFORNIA FISH AND GAME. 117 


Tizapan Mayor, under the same date as the above, report as follows: 

“T have the honor to inform you in accordance with the inquire contained in the 
communication of that Superiority under the number 15006, issued by Section 4th 
dated on the 15th inst. that on information collected from the fishermen within the 
jurisdiction of this Municipality is not known the fish named LOBINA mentioned 
in your said communication in any of the places where the fisheries are established.” 

Ocotlan Mayor under same date report: 

“Relative to your attentive note No. 9510, issued by Section 4th dated the 12th 
of November ultimo in which you transcribe me the communication dated on the 
21st of October last from the Consul General of Mexico in San Francisco, Cali- 
fornia, for the knowledge of the Governor of the State I have the honor to inform 
you that the fish known by the name BLACK BASS (Lobina), delicious fish, to 
which the preinserted note makes reference and known in all these places with the 
name of (LIZA) has been propagated relatively little in the Lake of Chapala and 
in a nearby place to El Fuerte, within the jurisdiction of this Municipality and in 
which place about 15 fifteen years ago approximately this fish was placed for its 
propagation but we have information that in the town of Poncitlan it is found 
frequently in the dam and in the river passing by that place.” 

Please to accept my attentive and distinguished consideration. 


THE CONSTITUTIONAL GOVERNOR OF THE STATE. 
Guadalajara, Jalisco, December 23, 1921. 


The stated fact that black bass have not multiplied to any extent in 
the lake for the principal reason that carp have destroyed the spawn, 
is hardly plausible, for unless the Mexican species of carp is as ageres- 
sive and courageous as the Mexican bull, this is not the reason for the 
apparent lack of increase. Both the male and female black bass remain 
with the eggs in the nest until they are hatched, and both remain with 
the young fry afterwards. There is no American fish bold enough to 
attack a black bass or its eggs. In lakes where bass only abound, neces- 
sity compels the adult fish to devour its young, but Chapala has an 
ideal food in the whitefish. We have made many plantings of bass and 
have never seen a body of water having more of the requirements 
necessary to the successful introduction of these fish than Lake Chapala. 

The black bass are the most difficult fish to catch with a net. They 
require certain lures to take them, such as live minnows, spinners, ete. 
In a body of water the size of Lake Chapala, containing all the natural 
feed, these fish are doubtless difficult to capture. In spite of the fore- 
going report, we feel positive they are present in large numbers and 
ean be taken by those who know how. 


118 


CALIFORNIA FISH AND GAME, 


CALIFORNIA FISH AND GAME] Neale comes to his position as one inti- 


A publication devoted to the conserva- 
tion of wild life and published quarterly 
by the California State Fish and Game 
Commission. 

Sent free to citizens of the State of Cali- 
fornia. Offered in exchange for ornitho- 
losieal, mammalogical and similar period- 
icals. 

The articles published in CALIFORNIA 
FISH AND GAME are not copyrighted and 
may be reproduced in other periodicals, 
provided due credit is given the California 
Fish and Game Commission. Editors of 
newspapers and periodicals are invited 
to make use of pertinent material. 

All material for publication should be 
sent to H. C. Bryant, Museum of Verte- 
brate Zoology, Berkeley, Cal. 


APRIL 22, 1922. 


“Of all sports, commend me to angling; 
it is the wisest, virtuousest, best.’’— 
Thomas Hood. 


NEW EXECUTIVE OFFICER. 


On March 14 Mr. Charles A. Vogel- 
sang, who has been executive officer since 
1920, resigned to accept another, more 


George Neale, executive officer. 


remunerative, position. Mr. George 
Neale, who has been in charge of the 
Sacramento district office since 1911, was 
appointed to succeed Mr. Vogelsang. Mr. 


mately acquainted with the fish and game 
of this state and the problems connected 
with its conservation. HEyvery employee 
of the commission is extremely well 
pleased with the appointment, for they 
know that from the standpoint of 
knowledge, experience and personality, 
Mr. Neale is well equipped for his future 
work. It is fortunate, also, that the new 
position comes as a promotional appoint- 
ment under civil service. 

George Neale came to California when 
he was sixteen years of age, spending two 
years in San Francisco and then settling 
in Sacramento, where he entered the mar- 
ket produce business. Due to his inter- 
est in fish and game he was appointed 
game warden of Sacramento County in 
January, 1801, and two months later was 
appointed a deputy state fish and game 
commissioner. He proved himself a ca- 
pable warden, cleaning up a particularly 
bad situation due to the laxity of enfore- 
ing the laws. On August 3, 1911, he was 
placed in charge of fhe Sacramento dis- 
trict office, which he has efficiently 
managed up to the present time. 

Mr. Neale is an ardent angler and 
hunter and a true conservationist, and 
sportsmen and conservationists alike may 
look forward to an efficient administration 
of the fish and game resources of the 
state. 


A HATCHERY NUMBER. 


Perhaps the most outstanding achieve- 
ments of the California Fish and Game 
Commission have been the successful in- 
troduction of numerous food and game 
fishes and the artificial propagation of 
trout and salmon for use in stocking bar- 
ren streams and lakes and restocking de- 
pleted waters. Everybody knows from 
the local papers that sometime during the 
summer and fall the fish car makes an 
annual visit to some town close by and 
that thousands of trout fry are carried to 
nearby streams by interested sportsmen, 
but of methods and actual output from 
the hatcheries the average citizen knows 
little. How many hatcheries are there? 
What is the annual output? How are 
trout fry planted? These and many more 
questions are answered in this “Hatchery 
Number.” 

The Fish and Game Commission boasts 
of having retained the continuous services 
of a skilled fishculturist for thirty-nine 
years. Mr. Wm. H. Shebley, in charge 
of fishculture, whose picture is shown 
above, has the distinction of being the 
commission's oldest employee and of hay- 
ing been trained under such pioneer fish- 


CALIFORNIA FISH AND GAME. 


culturists as Livingston Stone and J. G. 
Woodbury; Mr. Shebley, in consequence, 
knows California conditions and knows 
how to raise fish. The hatchery depart- 
ment has employees who have 


many 


William H. Shebley, in charge fishculture, 


“srown up’ with the work. One of the 
employees, Mr. E. W. Hunt, field super- 
intendent, has served the commission for 
thirty-five years; two others have served 
more than twenty-five years; four, more 
than fifteen years, and six for more than 
ten years. The efficiency of the depart- 
“ment can be partly traced to the fact 
that the men engaged in fishcultural work 
are all experienced men. 


INCREASING DEMAND FOR TROUT 
FRY EXHAUSTS HATCHERY RE- 
SOURCES. 


Easy access to the streams and lakes 
afforded by the improved highways and 
the increasing use of automobiles, and the 
added thousands of people who are avail- 
ing themselves of the opportunity to fish, 
are factors that have combined to make 
an ever-increasing demand on our hatch- 
eries for fish for restocking. Pach sea- 
son sees a marked increase in the number 
of people who seek recreation in our 
mountainous districts, and the consequent 
drain on the trout in our Jakes and 
streams has been very great, particularly 
during the past five years. To meet the 


eg 


need, the department of fishculture has 
exhausted its resources. Every available 
dollar has been devoted to fishcultural 
work, and yet the demand increases. 

Only a partial solution is possible as 
a result of the reduction of the bag limit 
from fifty to twenty-five. It may be that 
a shorter fishing season will have to fol- 
low in order that depleted streams and 
lakes may be afforded a chance to recover 
their former condition. 

Every state in the Union where there is 
game fish to be found is confronted by the 
same problem. In most cases the condi- 
tion is being met by an increased angling 
license to provide more funds for enlarg- 
ing the output of the hatcheries. This is 
the remaining remedial measure left to 
California. 


FREE FISHING FOR ALL. 


For fifty years the Fish and Game 
Commission has been stocking the lakes 
and streams of the state with trout. That 
any of these stocked lakes and streams 
should become private property, with con- 
sequent restriction of fishing, would be an 
injustice. Several years ago the actions 
of certain riparian owners caused the 
commission to advocate the passage of a 
law providing that boards of supervisors 
could, if necessary, condemn a right of 
way along a stream for the use of fisher- 
men. This law was passed. In recent 
years there have been many attempts by 
private individuals to close public fishing 
on certain lakes and sell fishing privileges 
for as much as $10 a day. The one thing 
that has saved these lakes from becoming 
private preserves has been the fact that 
the state has annually stocked them, and 
consequently the fish do not belong to the 
riparian owners. Likewise, the importa- 
tion of trout fry from other states has 
been discouraged, in order to prevent like 
developments. It seems reasonable that 
those who would make private gain from 
fish should utilize artificially constructed 
ponds, rather than publicly stocked waters. 
The commission positively refuses to stock 
with trout fry any waters of the state 
which are not previously declared in 
writing by the owners to be open to the 
general public for fishing purposes. 

The Fish and Game Commission be- 
lieves in championing the people’s rights. 
This is substantiated by the attitude on 
proposals for making private fish pre- 
serves out of streams and lakes stocked by 
the state and by the action taken during 
the last legislature, when the attempt was 
made to place fish and game administra- 
tion under a subsidiary division of the 
Department of Agriculture. 


120 


CONDITIONS SHOULD DETERMINE 
SPECIES OF TROUT PLANTED. 


Many of the applicants for trout fry 
specify a preference for rainbow. ‘There 
is no doubt but that the rainbow is the 
gamiest of the trout, and usually superior 
for food, also; but it must be remembered 
that some of the introduced species do 
better than our native trout in some local- 
ities. The eastern brook trout, although 
a failure in coast streams, thrives in the 
slow-moving, meandering stream of a 
mountain meadow, whereas the rainbow 
is at his best in the rushing, boulder- 
strewn stream of the granite-walled can- 
yons. Furthermore, it has been found 
that the brown trout thrives in certain 
streams where attempts to furnish good 
fishing by planting rainbow failed. The 
Loch Leven makes a splendid stream and 
lake fish and grows to large size. The 
steelhead, which furnishes a better supply 
of eggs than the rainbow, makes a suit- 
able substitute for the rainbow in most 
situations. Were a sufficient and econom- 
ical supply of rainbow eggs available, the 
commission would be pleased to supply the 
constant demand for this species, but the 
securing of a larger supply than is now 
obtained is difficult and expensive as well. 
The fisheultural department is in a posi- 
tion to know what species will thrive best 
in the different localities, and it attempts 
to allocate the fry accordingly. 


THE PLANTING OF FRY. 


The Fish and Game Commission is 
constantly receiving requests from all 
parts of the state for assistance and co- 
operation in planting trout and other fry 
in the waters of the state. It has been 
and is becoming more and more impossi- 
ble for the commission to bear the addi- 
tional expense of planting fry, as increas- 
ing demands necessitate the use of all 
funds available for the propagation and 
rearing of the fry to the planting stage. 
The expense of distribution has for many 
years been cheerfully borne by anglers’ 
associations and individuals most inter- 
ested. That this method of planting con- 
tinue seems the more reasonable, because 
of the increased cost of transportation 
and because of the personal interest de- 
veloped. During the war all free trans- 
portation of fish and employees engaged 
in fish planting was cancelled by the rail- 
roads, and the former privileges have 
never been restored. ‘The commission 
now pays full transportation for the two 
fish cars and employees, and the annual 
bill amounts to thousands of dollars. 
From the standpoint of conservation the 


CALIFORNIA FISH AND GAME, 


present method is desirable, for the rea- 
son that individuals or associations co- 
operate with the commission in planting 
fish and assume an interest in the plant 
made, and good publicity results from the 
cooperation. Apparently, neither anglers’ 
associations nor individuals have found 
their share of the work a burden. 


ELECTRIC FISH SCREEN. 


Severai articles have appeared in recent 
periodicals relative to the perfection of 
an effective screen utilizing an electric 
current for use in irrigation ditches. 
These articles are altogether too optimis- 
tic, in the light of investigations made by 
the California Fish and Game Commis- 
sion. On several different occasions the 
apparatus has been given a thorough test 
and found unsatisfactory. Young fish, 
placed in a ditch for experimental pur- 
poses, readily ran between the electrodes 
when the current was not too strong, and 
were quickly killed by the current as soon 
as a certain voltage was obtained. Con- 
siderable time and money have been ex- 
pended by the commission in an endeavor 
to test and see whether electricity could 
be used advantageously as a means of 
screening fish from irrigation ditches. 
But up to the present time no one has 
satisfactorily demonstrated that this prin- 
ciple is practical when _ trout and 
salmon are to be prevented from passing 
into large ditches or canals. Further ex- 
periments will be made this coming sea- 
son on an improved method of using the 
electrodes. 


MANY SPECIES OF TROUT SUCCESS- 
FULLY REARED. 


The species of trout which have been 


successfully reared at state hatcheries 
follow : 
NATIVE. 
McCloud River rainbow____Salmo shasta 
Rainbow 1222-323 Salmo iridews 
@ut-throate= = Se See Salmo clarkit 
Steelhead == s==— sean Salmo gairdneri 
Black-spotted=22===——=—= Salmo henshawi 
Tharveslakes-- === ____Salmo tahoensis 
Goldent.2=32 Ss Salmo roosvelti 
INTRODUCED. 

Eastern brook__---- Salvelinus fontinalis 
German) browne s2225a2—222= Salmo fario 
Loch Leven_----- Salmo trutta levenensis 
Mackinaw_—_----— Cristovomer namaycush 
Landlocked salmon___Salmo salar sebago 
Grayling= 32222. —3 Thymallus montanus 


Experimental hatching of several other 
food fishes has been undertaken at vari- 


CALIFORNIA FISH AND GAME, 


ous times. Included were the whitefish, 
striped bass, shad, muskallunge and Japa- 
nese ayu. 


FISH TRANSPORTATION. 


At first, transportation of fish to the 
stream was accomplished with horse and 
wagon, or by direct express shipments or 
in baggage cars. At the 1909 session of 
the legislature $7500 was appropriated 
for a fish car and equipment. The ear, 
60 feet long, was built in the shops of the 
Southern Pacific Company at Sacramento 
and is still in use. It is fitted up with 
an engine-room in which is located a boiler 
for generating steam to run two Westing- 
house air-pumps, used for forcing a circu- 
lation of air through a series of pipes 
and tubes into the 125 cans that the car 
is equipped to carry; also a refrigerator, 
tanks for carrying a supply of fresh wa- 
ter, berths for the attendants, a culinary 
department, an office for the superintend- 
ent of the car, besides lockers for the 
tools and equipment required in carrying 
the fish. This car has enabled the com- 
mission to carry thousands of fish in per- 
fect condition all oyer the state, at a 
saving in the cost of transportation 
amounting to hundreds of dollars each 
season. Formerly it required two men to 
eare for 12 or 15 cans; in the special car 
four men can care for a load of from 100 
to 125 cans, carrying from 200,000 to 
400,000 fish. Since the car has been in 
operation, three times as many fish as 
before have been distributed during the 
same period of time. Furthermore, the 
fish carry better and are delivered in 
better condition. A second fish car was 
put in operation in 1915. 

In recent years the motor truck has 
played an important part in transporta- 
tion. The Mount Whitney Hatchery is 
equipped with two large trucks. There 
is a one-and-a-half ton truck in use at 
the Mount Shasta Hatchery ; the distribu- 
tion of fish from the Feather River Hatch- 
ery is handled with a two-ton truck and 
each of the other important hatcheries 
has a Ford truck as part of the equip- 
ment. 

From the nearest railway station the 
fish are carried to the mountain stream 
either by truck or by pack train. Special 
pack-cans are utilized with animals, and 
the fish stand long journeys without 
injury. 

TROUT FOOD INTRODUCED. 

It seems reasonable to believe that an 
increased food supply for trout in certain 
streams might increase the supply and 
better the fishing. The commission has 


121 


consequently experimented in the trans- 
plantation of certain insects and crusta- 
ceans notable as food for trout. As early 
as 1897 crawfish and salmon flies were 
introduced into the Truckee basin. In 
more recent years salmon flies have been 
introduced and now thrive along many 
streams in the Tahoe region. 


PISS A ae ee 
IN MEMORIAM. 


xeorge McCloud departed this life 
October 19, 1921. He was. born near 
Gazelle, Siskiyou County, June 24, 1863. 
The son of Ross A. McCloud, one of the 
pioneers of Siskiyou County, who at one 
time was county surveyor, George Mc- 
Cloud spent his childhood at Upper Soda 
Springs and at Yreka. 

He was educated in the common schools 
of the county and in Ashland Academy. 
After leaving school he was employed on 
the survey of the Southern Pacific Rail- 
road under Chief Engineer William Hood, 
when that road was being surveyed and 
built through the Sacramento Canyon and 
over the Siskiyou Mountains. 

In 1886 he came into possession of a 
half interest in the Upper Soda Springs 
resort, and with his sister, Mrs. Elda 
Massen, operated this popular resort for 
a number of years. During this period 
he established a resort on McCloud River, 
that was named after his father. The 
best information that the writer can ob- 
tain regarding the origin of the name of 
McCloud River, is that it was named after 
Mr. McCloud’s father, Ross A. McCloud. 
This statement has been disputed by some, 
who claim that the river was named 
after a man named McLeod, who was 
in the employ of the Hudsons Bay Com- 
pany as a trapper, but there is not any 
doubt in the minds of the first settlers 
that the McCloud River was named after 
Ross A. McCloud, who came to Siskiyou 
County in the early fifties and prospected 
on the river that was given his name by 
early settlers. George McCloud sold his 
McCloud River property in 1890 to Clar- 
ence Waterhouse, who employed him as 
his fiduciary agent in charge of his prop- 
erty on the McCloud River, as well as on 
a mining venture in Alaska. 

George McCloud was a thorough sports- 
man and enjoyed the esteem of the best 
sportsmen in California. His knowledge 
of wild life, particularly the fishes of 
Northern California, gave him an enviable 
reputation, and his services were often 
sought by those who desired to enjoy an 
outing where good fishing could be had. 

In 1911 he entered the employ of the 
California Fish and Game Commission. 


122 


His knowledge of the trout and salmon 
was of great value to him in his new posi- 
tion, and he made rapid progress in his 
work. He was employed as fishculturist 
in charge of an egg-collecting station, and 
superintendent of one of the commission’s 
distribution cars, until his illness early in 
the summer of 1921 caused him to retire. 

Mr. McCloud’s death is deplored by a 
host of friends. He was an honest, up- 
right and coneientious man. In his pass- 


CALIFORNIA FISH AND GAME. 


lots of rainbow trout eggs to the Ha- 
waiian Islands: 50,000 in the spring of 
1919 and 25,000 in the spring of 1920. 
The executive officer of the Fish and 
Game Commission of the Territory of 
Hawaii, under date of December 20, 1921, 
reported as follows: “In the streams vis- 
ited on Kauai which had been stocked, 
dozens of rainbow trout were seen in 
every pool. I have never seen more fish 
in virgin streams in the Cascade Moun- 


George McCloud, pioneer of Siskiyou County, for many 
years a trusted employee of the Fish and Game Com- 
mission. 


ing the Fish and Game Commission lost 
an efficient and dependable employee. 
There survive to mourn his loss his 
wife, Mrs. Mary McCloud; two sons, Ross 
A. McCloud, who succeeded his father as 
superintendent of distribution car No. 2, 
and George McCloud Jr., superintendent 
of Mount Whitney Hatchery ; two daugh- 
ters, Mrs. Carrie Hickman and Mrs. Ruth 
Wheeler, and a sister, Mrs. Elda Massen. 


TRE RS ae ea ee 
RAINBOW TROUT THRIVE IN 
HAWAIIAN ISLANDS. 

Within the past few years the United 
States Bureau of Fisheries has sent two 


tains. The fish all have the appearance 
of being very fat and averaged about 10 
inches.” The bureau plans to send a 
further consignment of rainbow eggs to 
the islands this spring. 


MANY LIONS SECURED 
REFUGES. 


Since the beginning of operations by 
the state lion hunter, 47 mountain lions 
have been killed in and around game 
refuges and 20 others in and around na- 
tional parks. Wight lions have been 
killed in Fish and Game District 2A, five 
in Fish and Game District 3C, one in 


IN GAME 


CALIFORNIA FISH 


Fish and Game District 3B, twelve in 
Fish and Game District 1H, and twenty- 
one in Fish and Game District 11, on the 
three different trips into this refuge. 
Hight lions have been killed in and 
around Sequoia National Park and twelve 
in and around Yosemite. 


COMMISSION FEEDS DEER AND 
QUAIL. 


During February of this year the 
extreme cold weather caused much suffer- 
ing among the wild birds and animals, 
especially among the quail and deer, in 
the higher altitudes of the state. Realiz- 
ing the need for action in the matter, 
President Newbert of the Fish and Game 
Commission circulated through the news- 
papers the following letter: 


“This is the time that tells the tale 
whether a man is just a meat hunter or 
a real red-blooded sportsman. It may be 
that many wild birds and animals are 
isolated in areas where it is impossible 
for our wardens to find them, owing to 
the deep snow. Nature teaches all wild 
life when in need to seek man and 
civilization. 

“Therefore, residents of farms or towns 
are in a position to render aid by feeding 
these wild birds and animals. Our com- 
mission is more than willing to purchase 
feed to tide over these storms, and will 
authorize the expenditure of funds by our 
wardens. 

“We ask all lovers of wild life to feed, 
temporarily at least, birds and animals 
until such time as our local deputy or 
district office may be notified.” 


The enthusiastic response to this letter, 
not only from the deputies and forest ran- 
gers but from many of the residents who 
fed numbers of birds and animals gratis, 
was very gratifying. In Plumas County 
about 150 head of deer were saved from 
starvation. In Siskiyou County several 
large flocks of quail were fed, one flock 
numbering 250. Fortunately no great loss 
has been reported, though the quail above 
the 2000-foot altitude were without feed 
for four days. 

In Lassen County, deputies fed large 
numbers of quail and pheasants every day, 
as well as deer and antelope. The grain 
and hay used was furnished gratis by the 
people of the section. In Grass Valley 
the estimated number of quail cared for 
was 2500, and the number of deer about 
400. Twelve hundred pounds of hay and 
237 pounds of grain were fed at Indian 
Valley alone, the work requiring the 
assistance of several men, with teams, 
pack horses and mules. 


AND GAME, 123 


REDDING DAM DISPUTE SETTLED. 


The controversy regarding the installa- 
tion of a fish ladder on the dam of the 
Anderson-Cottonwood Irrigation District 
at Redding has at last been settled. An 
injunction suit was brought by the com- 
mission against the irrigation district, and 
the ease came up for trial on January 30, 
1922, before Judge Herzniger of Redding. 

The commission fully demonstrated that 
a suitable fishway had not been erected 
and that as a direct result thousands of 
salmon have found it impossible to reach 
their spawning grounds. But in order 
not to be too implacable in its attitude 
toward the irrigation district, which is 
already in financial troubles, the commis- 
sion finally, on the fourth day of the trial, 
agreed to a settlement. The following 
agreement was signed by officials of 
the Anderson-Cottonwood Irrigation Dist- 
rict and by the executive officer of the 
California Fish and Game Commission: 


“The board of directors of the Ander- 
son-Cottonwood Irrigation District and 
the people of the State of California, rep- 
resented by the Board of State Fish and 
Game Commissioners, will cooperate, with 
and by the advice of the engineers of said 
district and the engineer of the State 
Fish and Game Commission, to use pres- 
ent facilities offered by the dam of said 
district for the purpose of passing salmon 
over said dam, to the end that the flow of 
water in the canal of said district shall 
not be impaired and the migration of 
salmon shall not be obstructed, and to 
that end the following recommendation is 
made: 

1. Insert flash boards in the present 
fishway to check flow of water through 
the 12-foot space and from a pool below. 

2. If this proves inadequate, insert 
flash board in vertical plane to perfect 
fishway. 

83. If this proves inadequate, sink a 
timber box, 12 feet square, above the dam 
at the fishway to form an additional pool. 

If it is found that said plan does not 
operate as a fishway for the free passage 
of salmon, then, and in that event, said 
district agrees to make such improvements 
on said dam as will adequately facilitate 
the passage of salmon over said dam, this 
being the intent and purpose of this 
agreement, and if any additional facilities 
for the passing of salmon over said dam 
are found necessary, should the proposed 
scheme prove inadequate for passing 
salmon over said dam, any further im- 
provements made necessary shall be made 
with due regard to economy as well as to 
the other purposes to be accomplished 
herein. 

(Signed) Anderson-Cottonwood Irriga- 
tion District; David Nelson, director ; 
Charles H. Spann, director; W. F. Smith, 


124 


director; Andrew Jessen, director; Cali- 


fornia Fish and Game Commission, 
Charles A. Vogelsang, chief executive 
officer.” 


As a result of the above agreement, a 
dismissal of the case was ordered by the 
superior court. ‘Thus was ended one of 
the bitterest fights having to do with the 
conservation of salmon and the enforce- 
ment of the law relating to fishways. 


MOUNT DOME ANTELOPE HERD. 

The largest herd of antelope remaining 
in California makes its home at the south 
end of lower Klamath Lake, near Mount 
Dome. <A recent census has shown that 


CALIFORNIA FISH AND GAME. 


COLD WEATHER KILLS PISMO 
CLAMS. 

Subtropical fruits and vegetables are 
not the only things which may be killed 
or injured by cold weather in California. 
It has been reported to the State Fish 
and Game Commission by its deputy H. D. 
3ecker that the recent cold snap has re- 
sulted in the killing of great numbers of 
Pismo clams, which in this instance may 
be compared with subtropical fruit, for they 
are a southern form and in San Luis Obispo 
County, where freezing was most notice- 
able, are near the northern limit of their 
range. Some clams, like the eastern soft 
shell which remains stationary in its hole 


Fie 57. 
January 15, 1922, by J. O. Miller. 


about 100 of these animals are to be 
found in this region. Because of the past 
hard winter these antelope were in need 
of additional food. The big game com- 
mittee of the California Academy of Sci- 
ences, headed by Mr. M. Hall McAllister, 
became interested and furnished funds for 
the winter feeding of the herd. ‘The ac- 
companying photograph (Fig. 57) shows 
forty of the eighty-seven animals which 
came in to feed. The California Fish 
and Game Commission, the United States 
Forest Service, the California Academy 
of .Sciences and other organizations are 
cooperating to give these antelope a max- 
imum of protection. Several men have 
been deputized to watch for poachers and 
to see that the animals are properly cared 
for, and a move is now on foot to have 
a large area set aside as a permanent 
refuge for these antelope. 


Antelope on the proposed Mount Dome Antelope Refuge. 


Photograph taken 


About 40 antelope show in the picture. 


in the mud, may be frozen almost solid 
and be no worse for the experience after 
thawing out, but it is not so with the 
Pismo clam. 

Through investigations made for the 
Fish and Game Commission by Professor 
FF. W. Weymouth of Stanford University, 
much has been learned of the growth and 
habits of this interesting and most im- 
portant of California’s clams. The young 
Pismo clams spend the first three years of 
their existence above the low-tide line, on 
gently sloping, sandy beaches. They are 
very active creatures and can bury them- 
selves rapidly in the sand by means of 
their tongue-like ‘‘foot.”” And it is neces- 
sary that they be active, for the sand is 
continually moving in the surf, and in the 
wash of the waves during the flow of 
the tides up and down the beach they 


CALIFORNIA FISH AND GAME, 


would be washed out and cast high on 
the beach if they did not dig rapidly. 

During the recent cold spell these clams 
of tender age, being the young crop of the 
last three years and with shells not ex- 
ceeding three inches in diameter, were so 
chilled or frozen during the few hours 
they were left exposed in the wet sand 
while the tide was out that they were 
unable to dig in with the flow of the tide, 
and were ignominiously cast high on the 
beach, where, with muscles too near fro- 
zen to keep their shells from gaping, they 
fell easy prey to the gulls and pelicans, 
which came from far and wide to the 
feast. 

The damage to the young crop of clams 
has been very great. But, serious as is 
this loss, it is not nearly so serious as 
the destruction to these immature clams 
caused by summer visitors to our beaches 
digging them for food and sport in viola- 
tion of the law, which prohibits their cap- 
ture until they have developed shells 4% 
inches in diameter. It is unfortunate that 
the best beaches for Pismo clams are also 
our best pleasure beaches, where the 
people congregate in great numbers each 
summer. It is natural to dig in the sand, 
and if there is a prize to dig for, even if 
it be a very small clam, it seems to add 
fascination, and the chance of being 
caught by a game warden appears to lend 
excitement to the sport. Only once in 
the memory of the oldest inhabitant has 
extreme weather killed the young clams, 
but destruction of the young crop always 
exposed to thoughtless pleasure seekers 
takes place every year, and is far more 
serious. 

The Fish and Game Commission has 
been warned by Professor Weymouth that 
destruction to the young crop of clams in 
violation of the law is more serious by 
far than the recent destruction by cold 
weather, or even the operations of profes- 
sional clam diggers, at whom the local 
clam conservationists have been pointing 
their fingers. The matter is so serious 
that even the prohibiting of professional 
digging and the sale of clams may not 
save the Pismo clam from becoming ex- 
tinct in California, unless the public 
learns the importance of protecting the 
undersized clams. lLegal-sized clams can 
be found at extreme low tide, or, if one 
wishes really exciting sport, let him go 
into the surf after them with a clamming 
fork. 


FISHERIES CONFERENCE MEETS AT 
SAN PEDRO. 

In January the scientific staff of the 

California State Fisheries Laboratory at 

San Pedro held a conference to discuss 


125 


the program which is designed to prop- 
erly care for the fisheries of the State of 
California, particularly the great sardine 
fishery which has arisen within the last 
five years and which in 1919 produced 
154,000,000 pounds of food fish. 

So recent has been the origin of this 
great fishery that nothing is yet known 
about the permanence of its supply of 
fish. Fishes of the group to which the 
sardine belong show great fluctuations in 
abundance, at times being so scarce as to 
greatly limit the fishery for them, at 
others being in enormous abundance. The 
scientists of the State Fisheries Labora- 
tory have planned their work to provide 
information concerning the possibility of 
such great and disastrous changes, which 
will be studied according to the most re- 
cent methods developed in Europe by the 
International Council for the Investiga- 
tion of the Sea, and by Norway. 

The program devised will also bring out 
the possibilities of depleting the fisheries 
by imposing too great a strain. It is not 
yet known whether the fisheries on the 
Pacific Coast are able to stand such 
strains as have been placed upon the At- 
lantic species of fish, but it is surmised 
that they can not. The sardine, as do other 
fishes, depends upon the food produced by 
waters near the shore, where certain nat- 
ural elements necessary to the growth of 
their food are present. Along our coast 
this coastal water supply is decidedly lim- 
ited compared to that found along the 
coasts of northern Europe, where the 
greatest fisheries have been carried on. 
It will be necessary, therefore, for the 
California Fish and Game Commission to 
exercise special vigilance to see that the 
supply is not exhausted by reckless use, 
such as the use of sardines for fertilizer 
in unlimited quantities. The observation 
of the supply is a matter for careful 
scientific observation by biologists, along 
lines similar to those indicated by the men 
in session at the laboratory. 

But it has been necessary for the com- 
mission to do more than provide such a 
program of work, for it has become obvi- 
ous that men specially trained for its ex- 
ecution are necessary. Since such men 
are not obtainable at the universities, the 
State Fisheries Laboratory has under- 
taken the training of students, who are 
later expected to finish college, where they 
are granted sufficient work and payment 


therefor to constitute a scholarship. The 
conference dealt with these matters, as 
well ag the program of work. 

This conference was held in the 


splendid new building recently completed 
for the scientific workers at San Pedro, 


126 


MARKET HUNTERS FIND WATCHFUL 
WARDENS. 


The sale of ducks is now largely a 
thing of the past. Where the San Fran- 
cisco markets formerly had 300,000 ducks, 
the illegal sale at present must be but a few 
hundred, or at most a few thousand birds. 
Of course, in spite of the federal law pro- 
hibiting the sale of ducks, the incentive 
of the dollar drives a number of men to 
continue each winter their former trade 
of market hunting. Automobiles and 
good roads make it possible for the duck 
bootlegger to continue to operate. But 
quick convictions and heayy fines have 
been meted out the past season, and the 


CALIFORNIA FISH AND GAME. 


FAULT FOUND WITH THE PUBLIC 
SHOOTING GROUNDS BILL. 


The New-Anthony bill providing for a 
federal license to hunt migratory birds 
and for the establishment of public shoot- 
ing grounds and game refuges, which has 
been widely endorsed by sportsmen’s or- 
ganizations and game commissions, was 
not all that it was made to appear to be 
in the publicity given it. By a provision 
almost hidden in the text there is un- 
warranted encroachment by the federal 
government on the rights of states. Sec- 
tion 18 provides for complete control of 
every “fish, wild animal, or wild bird,’ 


man who hunts for the market has to 
turn outlaw and smuggler. 

The accompanying picture (Fig. 58) 
shows the destruction due to this type of 
hunting. Deputies of the commission 
heard night shooting near Willows on 
December 14, 1921, and investigated. The 
hunters ran, leaving a hat and “long gun” 
(an automatic capable of firing ten shots) 
and hundreds of ducks on the ground. 
After the birds had been collected, the 
photograph was taken. 

Information withheld by residents of 
the duck country sometimes makes it diffi- 
cult to make arrests. Deputies spend 
night after night in the cold, wet marshes, 
doing their utmost to stop market hunt- 
ing, and yet those who could be most 
helpful in furnishing information refuse 
to aid. Proper information is often the 
most important part of gaining an arrest 
and conviction, 


Ducks seized near Willows on December 14, 1921, after night-shooters had 
abandoned their kill at the approach of Fish and Game Wardens. 


whether it be resident or migratory. 
Judging by court decisions, this is uncon- 
stitutional. Furthermore, the bill pro- 
vides for administration by a commission 
composed of the Secretary of Agriculture 
as chairman, the Attorney General, the 
Postmaster General and two members 
from each house in Congress. How are 
the sportsmen represented on such a com- 
mittee? Worse, the commission is purely 
political and has-the power to spend mil- 
lions of the sportsmen’s money. Any law 
of this kind should be administered by a 
commission made up of conservation 
experts. 

It was the fish and game commissioners 
of the Western states that discovered the 
flaws in the bill and made the first im- 
portant protest. A convention was held 
at Salt Lake City and the following 
resolutions were passed: 


CALIFORNIA FISH AND GAME. 


a 


A RESOLUTION 


Adopted by the Western Association of 
State Game Commissioners 
January 17, 1922. 


The several commissioners and game 
wardens of the game and fish departments 
of the states of Arizona, Colorado, Mon- 
tana, New Mexico, Oregon, Utah and 
Wiyoming, in conference assembled at Salt 
Lake City, Utah, this seventeenth day of 
January, 1922, having carefully consid- 
ered United States Senate Bill No. 1452, 
entitled “The Federal Public Shooting 
Ground and Game Refuge Act,’ do unan- 
imously adopt the following resolutions: 


WHEREAS, We appreciate the need for 
the establishment of public shooting 
grounds and game refuges in various 
parts of the United States, for the benefit 
of the public at large and for the protec- 
tion of migratory birds; and 

WHEREAS. We, through our several 
game and fish departments in the states 
which we represent, have given our full 
support and cooperation to the efforts of 
the federal government to successfully 
administer the present federal migratory 
bird laws and regulations; and 

WHEREAS, We approve of the purpose 
and aims of the federal government as 
evidenced by the present migratory bird 
laws and are in favor of such additional 
legislation as may further such purpose; 
and 

WHEREAS, On the other hand, we are 
not unmindful of the inherent sovereignty 
of the several states as recognized in the 
decision of the Supreme Court of the 
United States in its determination that 
the game and fish within the confines of 
each state are the property of such state 
and, therefore, under the jurisdiction and 
control of state authority; and 

WHEREAS, We disapprove of the cen- 
tralization of control in the federal gov-~ 
ernment, of the game birds, animals and 
fishes which find their range within the 
confines of any state; and 

WHEREAS, The purport of said Senate 
Bill No. 1452 is not, in our opinion, as 
indicated in its title, but, on the contrary, 
is designed to, and will result in, an un- 
warranted encroachment by the federal 
government upon the rights of the vari- 
ous states in the protection of their fish 
and game, and in the administration of 
their fish and game laws; now, therefore, 
be it 

Resolved, That we protest against the 
enactment into law of United States Sen- 
ate Bill No. 1452 for the reasons as set 
forth in the foregoing preambles and 
more specifically because: 

1. Said Senate bill, although in its title 
“providing for establishing shooting 
grounds for the public; for establishing 
game refuges and breeding grounds; for 
protecting migratory birds and requiring 
a federal license to hunt them,” neverthe- 
less, in the body thereof, purports to give 
authority in nowise indicated in the title, 
and delegates power to the Department 
of Agriculture and a committee consisting 
of the Secretary of Agriculture, the At- 
torney General, the Postmaster General, 
two members of the Senate and two mem- 
bers of the House of Representatives, 
giving said commission complete legisla- 
tive powers to make rules and regulations 
which will have the force of laws govern- 
ing and controlling, not only the migra- 


127 


tory birds and the game animals, but also 
the fishes that may be found in their 
natural state or introduced into any of 
the lands or waters upon any game pre- 
serve secured under said act, either by 
gift, lease or purchase. 

2. We do not approve of creating a 
federal organization of game wardens 
which, in the enforcement of said act, will 
largely duplicate the work of the state 
organizations for the protection of fish 
and game, thereby increasing the operat- 
ing expenses necessary to the enforce- 
ment of the law, and tending to create 
conflicting authority between state and 
federal game wardens and to disrupt the 
harmony and unity of purpose now exist- 
ing between the state and federal depart- 
ments. 

3. We object to the federal government 
assessing a license fee against citizens of 
a state for the privilege of hunting and 
fishing within the confines of his own 
state. 

AND WHEREAS, We believe that the 
enforcement of the migratory bird law is 
of sufficient importance to justify a direct 
appropriation from Congress for that 
purpose; be it further 

Resolved, That we favor a direct appro- 
priation from Congress for the purpose 
of enforcing the Migratory Bird Treaty 
Act and the establishment of public shoot- 
ing grounds and game refuges under the 
direction of the Biological Survey. 


It has been determined to express the 
foregoing ideas in resolution form for the 
purpose of conveying to the Congress of 
the United States a concrete expression 
by the fish and game officials of the above 
named states who are primarily interested 
in legislation, be it state or federal, which 
will be most suitably designed to accom- 
plish the protection and increase of the 
fish and game of the country and to avoid 
submerging a laudable common purpose, 
in disputes and conflicts (intensified pos- 
sibly by a sense of unjust assumption of 
federal control) between officials and em- 
ployees of departments of government 
with overlapping coordinate authority. 

J. W. TINGEY, D. H. MADSEN, 

Secretary. President. 


The original bill thus exposed should 
have no chance of passing, but strange 
things happen, and if sportsmen and con- 
servationists remain apathetic, states will 
be robbed of their rights and sportsmen’s 
license money exploited by a_ political 
commission. The California Fish and 
Game Commission has now refused to 
support the bill unless it is suitably 
amended, and California representatives 
in Congress have been so informed. 


DEER HUNTERS SHOOT CATTLE. 

In our January issue a long list of 
hunting accidents furnished evidence that 
many hunters are careless when in the 
field and fail to “look before they shoot.” 
Now comes additional evidence of like 
carelessness in a report of the United 
States Forest Service, which states that 


128 


on eight of the national forests of this 
state sixty-four cattle and three horses 
met death from hunters’ bullets during 
the last open season. And this killing of 
animals is but one of the just complaints 
of the cattleman. Some hunters, neglect- 
ful of others’ interests, break down fences 
and leave gates open. Furthermore, in 
late summer, campers often usurp the 
only watering place for miles around and 
continually drive the cattle away, to 
finally die for lack of water. Unless hunt- 
ers take some steps to correct these evils 
themselves, it is certain that the men 
financially. concerned will be instrumental 
in further curtailing the hunter, and the 
careful will be made to suffer with the 
careless. 


EDUCATIONAL WORK IN YOSEMITE 
TO CONTINUE. 


At the request of the National Park 
Service, the Fish and Game Commission 
will again cooperate in educational work 
in the Yosemite National Park this com- 
ing summer. As in past years, the inci- 
dental expenses and the expense of as- 
sistants will be assumed by the National 
Park Service. Last year over 31,000 
persons received instructions through the 
medium of lectures, and over 2000 per- 
sons were taken afield and given first-hand 
information regarding wild life. 

The California Nature Study League, 
which has been greatly interested in the 
project, recently sent the following letter 
to President Newbert: 


Mr. FRANK NEWBERT, 
President California Fish 
Commission, 
Sacramento, California. 
My pEAR Mr. NEWBERT: 


On behalf of the California Nature 
Study League, may I thank you for the 
Fish and Game Commission’s continued 
conduct of the educational work at Yo- 
semite National Park? ‘There is probably 
no money expended by the State of Cali- 
fornia that will eventually bring bigger 
dividends to the taxpayers than such 
educational work. 

The last time I was leaving Yosemite 
I happened to meet on the train a group 
of people from San Mateo County. One 
of the children, a girl of about eleven, had 
been tested in the mental tests at Stan- 
ford University. She ranked so high that 
the professor declared she was about one 
in a million. In other words, there were 
only about 110 people in the United 
States, adults and children, as bright as 
this girl. In other words, she will be a 


and Game 


CALIFORNIA FISH AND GAME. 


genius of the tomorrow. She had had 
training along other lines, as literature 
and art, but her first stimulus to scien- 
tific education was through the work of 
Dr. Bryant of your staff. 
Just what may come of this you and 
I will probably never know. We will 
probably both be old men if we even live 
to see the fruiting of that intellect. Does 
it not show dramatically, however, the 
tremendous possibilities of the wild-life 
conservation work which your commission 
is doing? 
Sincerely, 
(Signed) ©. M. GortHeE, President. 
California Nature Study League. 


STANFORD PLANS ANIMAL REFUGE. 


If the plans of the Zoological Club at 
Stanford University are successful the 
800 acres comprising the Stanford Farm 
will become a state game refuge. The 
Zoological Club has offered to furnish the 
labor necessary for making and posting 
signs and to render all possible aid in 
detecting and reporting violators of the 
refuge. Illegal hunting and wanton kill- 
ing by people from off the campus has 
stimulated this move to carefully conserve 
all the animal life of the university 
holdings. 


BIG GAME IN SWEDEN. 


Moose are to be found in many of the 
central and northern provinces of Sweden 
and are being conserved and_ protected 
in spite of open hunting grounds and the 
absence of artificial game regulations 
which are so common in other European 
countries. The open season is two weeks 
in September, and each permittee is 
allowed to take one cow and one bull. 
There is no general license system; the 
hunter may procure a license from the 
state for hunting on state lands, or, if 
hunting on private lands, a permit may 
sometimes be obtained from the owner; 
in either ease the cost of the license is 
much greater than the cost of the 
American license. 

The following table shows the number 
of moose killed in different parts of 
Sweden during the year 1919, as reported 
by forest supervisors and rangers of the 
Swedish Forest Service: 


Number Killed During the Two Weeks 
Open Season. 


BG sto ee 791 

COWSai2 2s Se eee 580 

Calves. t& SAlar uc tee eres es TG 

Sex noticiven’ SS eae eee 31 
Notts Sa eS ae eee —— 1509 


CALIFORNIA FISH 


Number Killed During 
Closed Season. 


TT Spee eee ee a ne Ss 22, 
(COW iS a eee Sees ee 12 
(anlage eran eae ee ee 4 
Nex TO ter lVvenuw se = ee eS 80 

EIR teenie Sa Se he eet —— 118 
Total killed during year_____-_--__- 1627 


(From Sveriges officiella statistick Ut- 
drag ur revirbersattcheruas uppgifter.) 


In general, the reports show that the 
moose are decreasing, due to excessive 


Fig. 59. 
Joaquin River and photographed by A. A. 
Rohde. 


Rainbow trout caught on San 


AND GAME. 129 


hunting during the years of crisis. A 
closed season for several years is con- 
templated.—G. W. Hutt, San Francisco, 
California. 


A PHOTOGRAPH OF A RAINBOW 
TROUT. 


Since clear, detailed photographs of fish 
are often difficult to obtain, we are pub- 
lishing herewith a successful picture of 
a rainbow trout secured by Mr. A. A. 
Rohde of Fresno, California, taken near 
Bass Lake, Madera County, on the San 
Joaquin River (Fig. 59). Mr. Rohde 
took this picture with the fish two feet 
from the camera, using a Ray color filter 
over the lens and a 5 by 7 plate. The 
trout weighed 3 pounds and was 8 inches 
in length. 


DANGER TO FISHERIES FROM OIL 
AND TAR POLLUTION OF WATERS. 


In the report of the United States 
Commissioner of Fisheries for 1921, Mr. 
J. S. Gutsell discusses at some length the 
danger to fisheries from oil and tar pol- 
lution of waters. He points out that 
three main sources of oil and tar pollu- 
tion have been found: Road washings, 
carrying great quantities of lubricating 
oil; gas houses and oil refineries; tank- 
ers, oil burners and oil-engined shipping. 
Tars, tar oils and crude distillery prod- 
ucts are found generally to be highly poi- 
sonous, whether in weak or great dilution. 
Some oils have been found to emulsify to 
a sufficient degree, with continued agita- 
tion, to coat the gills of fish and so 
produce death by suffocation. An oil 
film, through prevention or checking of 
aeration, is dangerous, particularly in 
busy harbors. The deleterious effect on 
spawning, by rendering spawning grounds 
unfit or inaccessible, is a grave danger 
arising from the pollution of harbors and 
streams. Another serious danger is found 
to lie in the possible effects on the dimi- 
nution of the food supply. Through what- 
ever means, it is an observed fact, ac- 
cording to Weigelt, that in Germany fish 
have completely disappeared from pools 
and ponds following the discharge of min- 
eral oils into the water. In the sea a 
great danger is suggested by the fact that 
the eggs of sea fishes are typically float- 
ing, and that oil-burning and oil-engined 
shipping is greatly increasing. 

Remedial measures may (now or in the 
future) be found: (1) In the recovery of 
oils from drainage water, as already has 
been proposed; (2) in the prevention of 
gas-house and refinery pollution, which 
prevention should be helped by the in- 
creased use of “wastes” in by-products; 


130 


and (3) in prevention, by international 
arrangements, of the dumping of oil from 
ships in harbors or in the region of 
spawning grounds or special feeding areas. 


FISH COOKERY. 


“The last word on fish cookery” has 
just been given to the public by Messrs. 
Little, Brown & Company of Boston, in 
a volume on “Fish Cookery” by Evelene 
Spencer and John N. Cobb. Mrs. Spen- 
cer, after spending much time demon- 
strating fish cookery in the city of Port- 
land, Oregon, in connection with its mu- 
nicipal fish market, was engaged by the 
government during the “Hat More Fish” 
campaign, to travel through the country, 
explaining the food value of fish and the 
desirability of using the less familiar 
species, illustrating her lectures’ by 
various methods of cooking this food. 

Mr. Cobb, the co-author, is director of 
the College of Fisheries, University of 
Washington, Seattle, and the author of 
numerous works on the fisheries. He has 
contributed valuable information as to the 
fish themselves, and tables as to their food 
value, their location, seasons, etc. 

The book contains more than 600 reci- 
pes for cooking fish and its accompanying 
sauces and dressings. Every conceivable 
manner of serving fish is described, treat- 
ing not only the subject of the common 
and well known varieties, but numerous 


CALIFORNIA FISH AND GAME. 


little-known and seldom used varieties as 
well, which contain equally valuable food 
properties. This last word on fish cook- 
ery should serve to bring that little ap- 
preciated branch of the art into its proper 
place in the preparation of a well-balanced 
menu. 


UNITED STATES TOPOGRAPHIC 
MAPS. 


Every hunter and fisherman who goes 
to the mountains should carry with him 
a United States topographic map. From 
these maps he may obtain information 
relative to streams, lakes, springs, eleva- 
tions, and even cabins and other civilized 
institutions. There are few states where 
so much use is made of unsettled districts 
as in our state, and it is quite important 
that all areas open to the summer yaca- 
tionist should be properly mapped. At 
the present time one may secure suitable 
topographic maps of almost any area on 
the desert and in the Sierra, and one may 
travel from the Mexican line as far north 
as Point Reyes utilizing a government 
map. The area to the north of Point 
Reyes, however, is still unmapped, al- 
though much used as a recreation ground. 
A little pressure brought to bear on the 
United States Geological Survey would 
assure the completion of. the series of 
maps now available. 


CALIFORNIA FISH AND GAME. TE 


FACTS OF CURRENT INTEREST. 


The California fisheries production for 1921 was 123,192,193 pounds 
of fish and 5,310,251 pounds of shellfish, making a total of 128,502,444 
pounds. The total production for 1920 was 213,847,825 pounds. 


SVP & ap 
OHS a or 


With the increased rainfall the past year has come a splendid run 
of steelhead trout in the coastal streams. 


& 8 


The 1921 sardine catch was 59,332,305 pounds, which was only 
one-half as large as the 1920 catch. 


oe 


The principal decrease in the fish catch noted in 1921 was of 
varieties used for packing purposes. Of the 128,502,444 pounds of 
fish and mollusks taken in California during 1921, approximately 
66 per cent was used for canning and packing purposes, 30 per cent 
was used in a fresh state, and the remaining 4 per cent consisted of 
mollusks and crustaceans. 


2 * B&B 


The salmon catch in California in 1919 was 13,145,727 pounds; in 
1920, 11,133,819 pounds, and in 1921 it was only 7,990,932 pounds. 
A decreased catch is shown in all the salmon-fishing districts of the 
state. 


& & 


Severe weather during February necessitated the feeding of quail 
and deer in many sections to prevent their starvation. 


2 BS & 


Spawning operations for the past season have been fairly successful 
considering the severe weather. A good take of eggs is assured. 


2S s&s &B 


Computation shows that the California Fish and Game Commission 
has planted more than 1,128,800,000 fish in the streams and lakes of 
this state. 


CALIFORNIA FISH AND GAME. 


COMMERCIAL FISHERY NOTES. 


N. B. Scorretp, Editor, 


CHICAGO, MINNEAPOLIS AND ST. 
PAUL AS FRESH FISH MARKETS. 


The United States Bureau of Fisheries 
has just issued an economic circular en- 
titled “Trade in Fresh and Frozen Fish- 
ery Products and Related Marketing Con- 
siderations in Chicago, Illinois,” and an- 
other with a similar title but for the twin 
cities, Minneapolis and St. Paul. These 
circulars are by L. I. Hopkinson, agent 
of the bureau. The reports are quite 
complete and of great interest to all who 
may be interested in the marketing of 
fresh and frozen fish. 

Chicago gets its fresh fish supply prin- 
cipally from Canada, the Great Lakes and 
the north Pacific Coast. A million and 
a quarter pounds of ciscoes, chubs and 


yellow perch were landed by Chicago 
commercial fishermen fishing in lake 
Michigan during the last fiscal year. 


With the exception of halibut aud salmon 
from the Pacifie Coast and _ shucked 
oysters from the Atlantic Coast, the con- 
sumers prefer fresh water varieties. 
Seventy per cent of the fish trade is 
confined to eleven species, as follows: 
Buffalo-fish, carp, ciscoes, halibut, lake 
trout, pike or “jacks,” salmon, whitefish, 
yellow-pereh, yellow-pike and _ shucked 
oysters. 

It is interesting to note that the two 
principal varieties consumed are the carp 
and a fish closely related to it, the buf- 
falo-fish. The ‘buffalo-fish come ‘from 
Minnesota, Illinois River, Mississippi 
River and other nearby rivers, and are 
shipped to market “in the round” in 100- 
to 150-pound boxes and in barrels of 200 
pounds each. The carp come from the 
same source and from the Great Lakes. 
They are shipped both ‘in the round’ and 
dressed, in boxes and barrels. Shad are 
popular during season, but the supply, 
coming from Baltimore, Md., New York, 
N. Y., Florida and California, is limited. 

Fish arrive in Chicago mostly in ear- 
load lots, both fresh and frozen. During 
the year ending July 31, 1921, a total of 
526 carloads was received from Canada, 
as against 272 from the United States. 
During the same year a total of 19,643,- 
047 pounds of frozen fish was placed in 
Chicago public cold-storage warehouses, 
while 20,104,072 pounds were withdrawn 
during the same period, there being a 
little over 7,000,000 pounds held over 
from the previous fiscal year. 


The Bureau of Fisheries has also 
issued economic circulars setting forth 
the results of similar fish-market surveys 
in the cities of Louisville, Ky., and Pitts- 
burg, Pa. 


COLD STORAGE FISH. 


Apparently there is very little prejudice 
in Chicago against cold storage fish, and 
that is as it should be, for it has been 
shown by investigations of federal bu- 
reaus that if fish are frozen soon after 
landing them from the fishing boats they 
can be kept frozen for several months in 
cold storage houses and still reach the 
consumer in better condi¥ion than if 
delivered direct without freezing. 

Very nearly all kinds of fish have their 
seasons of greatest abundance followed 
by a period of scarcity. To freeze the 
fish at times when they are abundant and 
the markets oversupplied, and carry them 
over into the period of scarcity, increases 
their consumption and prevents the dump- 
ing of fish which so often happens on 
account of an oversupply of the market. 
The fishermen also would get a more 
nearly just reward for their labor and the 
publie would get its fish at a less price. 

The greatest need in the fresh fish 
industry in California is undoubtedly bet- 
ter freezing and cold storage facilities at 
the fishing centers. Such plants are be- 
ing installed very slowly. What is needed 
to hasten the movement is to convince 
the public that the fish reach them in 
better condition if frozen immediately 
after catching. It will be necessary, how- 
ever, to freeze the fish immediately after 
catching, and not after a few days’ wait- 
ing to find a market, as it must be 
admitted there is a temptation to do. 


CALIFORNIA SARDINES CONSIDERED 
HERRING BY CHILEAN CUSTOMS 
OFFICIALS. 


The Fish and Game Commission’s 
attention has been called to the fact that 
the customs authorities of Chile have ruled 
that California ‘pound oval’ sardines are 
herring, and propose to collect the $1.20 
per kilo herring rate on importations from 
California, instead of the 80 cents per 
kilo sardine rate to which our canners 
claim they are entitled. The higher her- 
ring rate of $1.20 per kilo, California 
canners say, will make shipment of our 
sardines to Chile impossible. 


CALIFORNIA FISH AND GAME. 


The California sardine is a true sardine 
searcely to be distinguished from the 
sardine of Europe, and should not be con- 
fused with the species of herring which 
are being canned in other places and 
labeled as sardines. The scientific status 
of the California sardine and its relation 
to the other species of sardines and “‘sar- 
dine herrings” is set forth by Mr. Will F. 
Thompson in the October, 1921, issue of 
this magazine, in an article entitled “The 
Sardine of California.” It is there shown 
very clearly that the California sardine 
(Sardina coerulea) is a true sardine. An 
article to the same effect by Professor 
BE. CG. Starks of Stanford University ap- 
peared in the April, 1918, number of this 
magazine. 

The Fish and Game Commission is 
taking the matter up with the Chilean 
authorities, with the hope that they will 
give our fish the proper designation of 
“sardine.” At the request of some can- 
ners the commission has issued a certifi- 
eate to the effect that our fish are true 
sardines and not herring. 


WORK OF THE CALIFORNIA LABOR- 
ATORY OF THE BUREAU OF 
FISHERIES. 


During the past fiseal year, while the 

Bureau of Fisheries’ experimental labora- 
tory at San Pedro was being operated by 
the Fish and Game Commission, investi- 
gations were carried on to determine 
what changes take place in the ‘‘fry bath” 
oil used for frying sardines. A report on 
this work is being published by the 
commission (circular No. 1). 
: In frying the large sardines for packing 
in pound cans, as it is practiced in the 
industry, the fry-bath oil quickly becomes 
dark in color and imparts a distinct and 
not altogether agreeable flavor to the 
sardines being fried. This oil has to be 
frequently discarded, and on that account 
contributes very materiaily to the ex- 
pense of canning. It was therefore the 
object of the work at the bureau’s labora- 
tory to find some way, if possible, to 
purify and reclaim this oil and find out 
what changes caused the peculiar odor 
and taste in the oil and to devise some 
way to remedy it. 

Several different oils have been used by 
the industry for frying the sardines, but 
cottonseed oil is the one commonly used. 
In the experiments it was found that 
corn oil or a hydrogenated oil does 


133 » 


equally as well. In regard to the changes 
which take place in this fry oil, it was 
found that when fat sardines are fried— 
and the larger sardines are usually fat 
the fry oil in a very short time becomes 
largely sardine oil. It is the presence of 
sardine oil in the fry bath which causes 
most of the trouble it was sought to 
correct. Sardine oil becomes easily oxi- 
dized by heat and contact with the air, 
and it is oxidized sardine oil which im- 
parts the slight odor and taste to the 
canned product. No way was found to 
prevent the sardine oil from getting into 
the fry oil, and no economical means was 
found of purifying and reclaiming the fry 
oil or of preventing the oxidation of the 
sardine oil in the process of frying. The 
investigator, Mr. Beard, considers it im- 
probable that any cheap successful means 
will be found. 

The negative results of the experiments 
in purifying and reclaiming the fry-bath 
oil forced Mr. Beard to the conclusion 
that the best way to avoid the disagree- 
able taste imparted to the sardines and 
to lessen the cost of packing was to elim- 
inate the process of frying in oil. The 
work of the laboratory during the pres- 
ent fiscal year has been largely devoted to 
methods of packing sardines in which oil 
frying has been eliminated. In these ex- 
periments the sardines were precooked in 
steam and in boiling brine, and they were 
also packed without precooking. It is 
believed that a method has been found 
which will lessen the cost of packing and 
at the same time result in a better pack, 
one which will be more palatable and di- 
gestible, and will ‘stand up” in shipping 
as well or better than the “fried in oil” 
pack. 

The Bureau of Fisheries laboratory has 
issued pamphlets to California canners 
describing this method, and sample cans 
will be furnished to canners if they are 
interested. The results were given im- 
mediately to the canners. so that they 
might try out the method during the 
present season. 

The California sardine is a very excel- 
lent fish and deserves a high place among 
the canned foods of the United States. 
It seems necessary, however, that im- 
provements be made in the pound oval 
pack and that an organized publicity 
campaign be launched if the California 
sardine is to win the place in the minds 
of the people of the United States which 
it deserves. 


134 CALIFORNIA FISH AND GAME. 


LIFE HISTORY NOTES. 


LARGE MACKINAW CAUGHT IN mackinaw trout in Donner Lake, using 
DONNER LAKE. minnow chubs for bait. 

Anglers in the Truckee basin continue The mackinaw trout was first planted 
to occasionally catch the mackinaw trout |in Lake Tahoe in 1895, and a year later in 
(Cristovomer namaycush). On July 26,} Donner and other nearby lakes, after the 
1921, Mr. W. B. Gelatt caught a 12-pound | successful hatching of a shipment of eggs. 


Fic. 60. Mackinaw trout, weighing 12 pounds, caught July 26, 1921, in Donner 
Lake by W. B. Gelatt. Mackinaw trout was introduced into the waters of this lake 
in 1895, but the annual catch is very small. 


CALIFORNIA FISH AND GAME. 


Although fish of this species are occa- 
sionally caught in lakes of the Truckee 
basin, the mackinaw, or Great Lakes 
trout, as it is sometimes called, has never 
thrived to the extent expected when intro- 
duced into this part of the country. This 
season, however, an unusual amount of 
large trout, ranging from 5 to 15 pounds, 
have been caught in Donner Lake.— 
GrorRGE NEALE, Sacramento California. 


WHITE PELICANS MEET DEATH 
DURING COLD WAVE. 


Investigation authenticated a report in 
late January that numerous white peli- 


135 


cans were found dead on the shores of 
Lake Washington, near Sacramento. Lo- 
cal observers stated that the extremely 
stormy weather was responsible for the 
death of the pelicans. The terrific north 
wind appeared to render the birds help- 
less, and many were unable to rise after 
being blown down on the ice, which was 
several inches thick, or against wires. 
After the storm more than twenty-five of 
the pelicans were found dead along the 
shore of the lake.—GrORGE NEALE, Sacra- 
mento, California. 


CONSERVATION IN OTHER STATES. 


OREGON KILLS SEA LIONS. 


During the past year the Oregon Fish 
Commission at the request of commer- 
cial fishermen, has attempted to extermi- 
nate the Stellar sea lions in the colonies 
along the Oregon coast. For this purpose 
a special boat was secured and equipped. 
The slaughter of these mammals is de- 
fended on the claim of the fishermen that 
the sea lions destroy large numbers of 
young salmon. It is to be hoped that the 
stomach contents of the animals killed 
is being carefully analyzed, for when an 
investigation was ordered a number of 
years ago here in California, on the com- 
plaint of fishermen, the sea lions killed 
were found to contain squids and octopi 
rather than salmon. 


CONSERVATION IN EDUCATION. 


“Education is perhaps the greatest one 
factor in aiding conservation. Undoubt- 
edly the teaching of the principles of 
wild-life protection in the publie schools 
will have a wonderful restraining effect 
upon the coming generation. The Wis- 
consin Game Protective Association is 
endeavoring to have a law enacted provid- 
ing that Wisconsin school children shall 
be given instruction in the conservation 
of fish and game as a part -of their 
regular school courses. 

An effort should be made in all states 
by sportsmen’s associations to have laws 
of this nature passed. At the present 
time Nevada is the only state we know of 
that has a law requiring that conservation 
be taught in the public schools of that 
state.” — (R. P. Holland, Field and 
Stream, May, 1921, Vol. 26, No. 1, p. 33.) 


OREGON HAS ADOPTED NEW GAME 
CODE. 


At the last session of its legislature the 
State of Oregon adopted a new game 
code, the outstanding feature of which is 
the increase in license fees for both hunt- 
ing and angling to $3, with the provision 
that a combination hunter’s license and 
angler’s license may be obtained for $5. 
With the increased income from license 
fees the commission expects to improve 
its patrol service and to increase its 
hatcheries from five to fourteen. 


WISCONSIN’S BUCK LAW FAULTY. 


Wisconsin is unfortunate in the word- 
ing of her new buck law, which provides 
that only bucks not less than one year of 
age can be lawfully taken. As a result 
sportsmen are continually writing the 
Conservation Commission, asking for 
some means of identifying a year-old 
buck deer. In that according to law a 
deer can not lawfully be killed until it is 
one and one-half years old, since fawns 
are born in May and June, the Conserva- 
tion Commission has recently instructed 
its wardens that all deer with horns less 
than 38 inches in length, found in the 
possession of a hunter, are fawns and are 
to be confiscated. An attempt will be 
made to amend the law at the next legis- 
lative session to provide for a certain 
length of horn. 


AUSTRALIA ESTABLISHES REFUGE. 


The establishment of Wilson's Prom- 
ontory, a national sanctuary in Australia 
covering about 101,000 acres of moun- 
tainous country, will provide protection 


136 


for many birds and become the last ref- 
uge for the Lyrebird, which has been so 
persecuted by the plume-hunter, the egg- 
collector and the fox. 


NATURE PROTECTION IN JAPAN. 


Japan is directing her attention very 
seriously to the protection of her animal 


life. Certain animals peculiar to Japan 
are in grave danger of extermination. 
Such are the Japanese ibis, Japanese 


egret, the Siberian bustard and the spoon- 
bill. The Ministry of the Interior of the 
Empire of Japan has issued a brochure 
containing a list of the monuments, ruins, 
sites and places, and of the animal life, 
which it is desired to protect. — Bird 
Notes and News, Vol. IX, p. 53. 


NEW MEXICO HAS NEW GAME LAWS. 


At the last session of the New Mexico 
legislature the game laws were completely 
revised and a new commission appointed. 
The commission is composed of three 
members, not more than two of whom 
shall be of the same political party, ap- 
pointed by the governor. The terms are 
for six years and are overlapping, so as 
to assure continuity of policy. The com- 
missioners serve without pay. The chief 
warden is also appointed by the governor. 

The commission is granted regulative 
powers in addition to those of law en- 
forcement. The new law describes the 
various functions as follows 

To establish game refuges for the 
purpose of providing safe sanctuaries in 
which game may breed and _ replenish 
adjacent hunting ranges. 

To declare closed seasons in any speci- 
fied locality on any species of game or fish 
threatened with undue depletion from any 
cause. 

To purchase land for game refuges and 


CALIFORNIA FISH AND GAME. 


public hunting grounds, particularly suit- 
able for waterfowl hunting. 

To designate resting grounds for water- 
fowl, in which they shall not be molested. 

To close waters to fishing, for the 
protection of recently stocked streams, 
spawning waters or depleted waters. 

To establish fish hatcheries. 

To prohibit hunting in 
extreme forest-fire danger. 

To propagate, purchase and sell game 
animals, birds and fish for restocking. 

To withhold license privileges for not 
to exceed two years from any person 
procuring a license through misrepresen- 
tation or hunting without a license. 

The commission is not authorized to 
open any closed season established by the 
legislature, to lengthen any open season, 
to declare a closed season on any preda- 
tory species, or to increase any bag limit. 


periods of 


GAME CONDITIONS IN BRITISH 
COLUMBIA. 

A report of game conditions for 1920 
by the Game Conservation Board of Brit- 
ish Columbia chronicles several changes 
in the game laws in an endeavor to better 
conserve game. In northern British Co- 
lumbia the bag limit on mountain sheep 
has been reduced to two rams of any one 
species or three in all. In the southern 
part of the province only one ram may be 
killed. Wapiti are being given a closed 
season in southern British Columbia. 
Sentiment favoring a buck law is gaining 
ground rapidly. Even the grizzly bear is 
being accorded a measure of protection, 
being entirely protected south of the main 
lines of the Canadian Pacific Railway, 
and a bag limit of three being allowed 
for the region lying to the north. As 
might be expected, the catch of fur was 
comparatively small, the 1842 trappers 
reporting a take of 110,573 pelts. 


CALIFORNIA FISH AND GAME, 


REPORTS. 


STATEMENT OF EXPENDITURES. 
Period July 1, 1921, to December 31, 1921. 


137 


Materials Salaries Service Property 
Function and and and and Total 
supplies wages expense equipment 
Administration: 
WOMITMNISEI ONES yeaa ne = | eee ee eta | ee ee Sh eet G5 63080) [an eee oe $563 33 
BXCCUUNVEmOQiiCesse es = ose nee. $434 54 $9,376 43 2,931 56 $12 00 12,754 53 
Dette phate ee SO ee 8 eee | eee ee 4.912) 30" | 2 ee 4,212 30 
Research and publicity______________ 242 00 2,050 00 384: OF, |s2ase2-2e 2 2,676 01 
Accident and! deathyelaims #2) os 22s)2-2 |acoanesen sss DIGIS lites ee 11 28 
Department” totalss-222- 225s = $676 54 | $11,426 43 $8,103 48 $12 00 $20,217 45 
Commercial fish culture and con- 
servation: 
Superintendence 22 = ese ae ees $282 76 $5,047 50 $2,711 20 $378 21 $8,419 67 
Inspection and patrol___----________ 2,434 21 10,290 00 2,297 09 33 90 15,055 20 
MRESGAECHY ea oe seen ee ee 524 20 | 9,832 67 2,796 19 1,772 28 14,925 34 
State laboratory construction__--__ 12,779 72 | 9,855 77 313-32) |-2 23,008 81 
Statistics. b= se ee 398 00 3,849 49 152 39 184 15 4,584 03 
Market fishing license commissions_-|_..._...--__]__-__.--_-_- 320100) |S eeess ee 320 00 
Propagation and distribution of 
Salmon pesos sea na eee ee 4,591 14 10,840 12 1,488 42 765 30 17,634 98 
Department, -totals=-—- -2- + ===. $21,010 03 | $49,715 55 | $10,088 61 $3,133 84 | $83,948 03 
- Sporting fish culture and conserva- 
tion: 
Superintendence ss s=— ase ts ae $415 58 $6,410 41 | $17,824 93 $28 05 | $24,678 97 
General patrol (40 per cent)__--____ 856 385 25,686 57 18,711 20 3 88 44,758 00 
Propagation and distribution of 
OlOUt yee Sesser sees ee 21,325 55 | 33,922 48 20,627 43 5,321 39 81,196 85 
Department totals_---.---....--- $22,097 48 | $66,019 46 | $57,163 56 | $5,353 32 | $150,633 s2 
Game conservation: | 
General patrol (60 per cent)_------- $559 13 | $38,819 50 | $46,438 04 $5 82 | $85,822 49 
Tahoe camping ground__-------------- | $14 55 | $603 00 $14 75 $2 50 $634 80 
anid’ totaleicss wee es oS | $44,357 73 | $166,583 94 | $121,807 44 | $8,507 48 | $341,256 59 
Seizures. 
Game Fish. 
[Beare menitises. 2 ke ee ee ee Pe Zee MOUnGS A DaAlONes esses ese eee 508 
Deer, ——————— ------------------- 5 Dried abalones!--- 2s 41 pounds 
DEG ee Se ee ee Z5l ee pOUnOS SB rants ee ee be ee ee 9 pounds 
Deer and valley quail___-_--_.------ 34 pounds] Bass, black and striped__--________ 38 
Walley’ quiailesse=. oases = Se 93 BASS, Striped sss ta ne eee 6434 pounds 
Dit (el ec ae ee a eer 1,612 @lamisis: tan nah 2 BS 324 
(Giggs) = Sasa eee Se 38 Orabsic) t=: SU st ose eee 191 
Goldentploveress=- = === 1 @rabsmedt=ees ss = 2 = oe ees 14 pounds 
Spikes buCkK==--0- 222-2 ee seo 2 Orawigheeces snes ees ee 1 
Wildenheasanites = - 2-0-2 2 3 ISICNT ot eee Se ee Le Se 200 pounds 
Mend owe Lan ks ses eee ate ee 7 Croaker—yellowfin -....—-.------_-. 300 pounds 
Sit at oe Se ee eee ene 1 ODS tis Fae na ae eee eee 841 
SPECHT Ee eee a ee ee eee eee 19 Salmon... 222 5 ee 29 
Sorex binds.) see se Se 8 oiler, Sp See sas Sa ea 75 pounds 
TTROWG Sse eae ee ence ae ee 17 
SMO amass one see See eek 66 pounds 
HTTO Ut. pA O KEG saa acoso 50 and 2 boxes 
Wieral nets..._.--.-__---=_--.=.-----.-=---.---_-=---=-----=-=-~-----==----=-1--——----- 13 —- $1,285 00 
Searches. 
(hin a oS ee ee ae er 7 


CALIFORNIA FISH AND GAME. 


138 


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140 CALIFORNIA FISH AND GAME. 


VIOLATIONS OF FISH AND GAME LAWS, 
October 1, 1921, to December 31, 1921. 


Numbe 7 
Offense of 5 3 near 
arrests [imapees 
Game 
Hunting without! avlicenSe =) 2=- see aos ae ee ee aan eee 87 $582 50 
Hunting sinveame Tefieess 2422) eee ae eee a ee a eee eee oe 8 50 00 
Hunting “in posted erounds2s5 222s 25 8 2 eee i see ee 5 85 00 
Hunting tout of. season. 222 eee eee ee eee eee ees 4 255 00 
Trapping without, a Vicense: i922 ~ ==) 22 ee ee ee eee 2 20 00 
False statement to secure license. = 2225-2 8 rs en eee eee 2 50 00 
Birds*non-same—possession and. killing = 2 eas ee ee 29 295 00 
Deer, Male; possession; closed)/ScAson= === 22* == = Pe nee ee eee 10 750 00 
Deer meat; possession, closed sedson-— 3-2-2) oe ee 12 150 00 
Does, killing) and \possession=- 2+... = 42 oe tee 8 500 00 
Pawns, killing and) possession’. 222-22" == 25-3 Se ee eee 3 200 00 
Doves. Killing and MOssession=-— Se a ee ee eee 4 50 00 
Ducks. overlimit. possession, killing, closed) seasone2-2- =o ee 10 465 00 
Rabbits, “possession; ‘killing, elosediseason=-—-: = - 4 = ee 6 125 00 
Pigeons, “POSSESSION (2 2—22== -2 = SSeS eee a eee qlee ee 
Wildpheasants; kkillingvand) possession ee sean —- = a ee MY 50 00 
Spike buck, skilling and SpOSSCSS10 T= see on ee ee er 3 250 00 
Yellow hammers: skilling- and) pOsesssion se see ae ee eee eee 12 30 00 
Shore birds. shooting and Possession soso. == = a es rene o7 200 00 
Snipe piling Sandi OSSCSS1O Ms an ae re ee ee 5 125 00 
Paws: Ofsbear,- DOSScSsion= = ae ee ee ee oe ee ee ee eee 2 20: 00 
Wildse ese, nexcess iim t= sss se eee eee ee eee oe ee ee 2 50 00 
rey yfaevsyy TED D Dh ee Spe a es ee Sere bese wea ee al 25 00 
Sea coulis, Hiding 2 ao ee ee ee ae oe ee a a eo 1 10 00 
Killing game in game refuge--___-----_---_---_- Bases Scere ee ee os See aeons 3 300 00 
Plover, shooting 2222-222 2225222 - SSS aks ee eS eee eee 1 66 00 
FECES Mea i te re eee a 8 275 60 
SHO OE Petr OTN ea UI tO eee ee 3 25 00 
Shooting) trOmiap OWel-) Oats ne ae a ee es 12 175 00 
Quail, possession, closed season, ‘killing=2s sss 222o2 sa eee V7, 350 00 
Failure to keep: heads. ‘and horns ‘inj possession=—- -222522 = _2) 2 = 7 | Pree Sj 2 
Hides, possession;, illegal: 22.2225 2-23 oe Se See ee ee eee eee 3 75 00 
ING hit yn art nn ee SS oe ee ee 59 1,055 00 
MotCal se ames Viola blONS == ca ate ee eee en 303 $6,658 50 
Fish. 
Bass, possession; excess limit, undersized i2-- 22-22. ee eee 18 $250 00 
AWS TC] OSC ISE SS 0 Tle ee 2 15 00 
Crab meat, possession, closed season, selling out of shell___-_---_----_--_-__... 2 50 00 
Abalones, possession, undersized, overlimit__.------_____-__-------_---=-- === 12 375 00 
Abalones, gathering for profit without license_--_--_---_-.___--______-_________- 9) 4 ft | alee es 
Crackers, yellowlin/and spotin== 222 == aoe ee ee 1 75.00 
Crawfish, oversized, buying and possession___---_---___--_--___-_______ 2 20 00 
TSU Loy Har vbOCO Ky HVAT OL oe ee ee ee Se en 2 eee eae eh ese 1 25 00 
MODStErs, UNG ETSIZeds POSSESS Wa ae ae ae ae re 10 165 00 
Salmon, overlimit_-_....---------__--------- -=-==---- === =. ------ == =~ === -_ ===. = 1 100 00 
Trout, DOssession; Overlimit, closed SeasON=-- == — = ee 5 2995 00 
DYER T OCSIOUbOY Se ee ne SS EE ee Ses ee eee Se ee ee 20 465 00 
Shipping fish by parcel post-------_--_-------------_-------_-__~--_-----_-_--___ 4 100 00 
Fishing without a license_-_+--_--.-.-------------------—- === == -_ = 10 135 00 
FKishine without a license (commercial)==--------— 2-22 22-22 2 45 00 
Fishing within half-mile of spawning station_-----------------------~----_------ 8 G0 00 
Taking and possession fish within 250 feet of fishway_-----------__- eee eee 3 75 00 
Fishing within 750 feet of wharf_------------------------- a eee 1 50 00 
Using fence for taking salmon-_-------------------__--__-----__---_~__---__----_—- | iL ge 25 00 
Clams, overlimit, undersized----------------------—.-------------------.--- =e 14 395 00 
Placing obstruction in stream-------------~---~-----------------------------------. 2 50 00 
Discharging sawdust in stream_--__---------------------------------------__--_--- 1 50 00 
Depositing petroleum in California waters__-__---------------------------------- Tt” yogi ee ne es SS 
Allowing dogs to run wild and more than one dog per person--------------___. 3 70 00 
Motal Meh sviGlatlonsecs—4 eee teres cee eee a a ea ae ee 121 $2,820 00 
Grand total fish and game violations-_-_--------------_-----_____________. 424 $9,478 50 
° 


17703 4-22 6500 


BH. L. Bosqui, Commissioner in Charge. 


Peli liee A DOS eye oe ete or Santa Maria] W. C. Malone_______ 
hehe wT MOTE eo eee ee ee ae) Ventura} Hah: Obersces. tao = 
aD) meckerss. a a San Luis Obispo|H. I. Pritchard______ 
Sigh aX Cif) a SR eae aU Elsinore | Webb Tioms______-__ 


PATROL SERVICE. 


SAN FRANCISCO DIVISION. 


Phone Sutter 6100. 


OW eb Arm stron pes ore oc 8 ne: Vallejo, I. L. Koppel_________ 
Harloa Ba rne gate ee es Hureka | Henry Lencioni______ 
Theo: Mi: Benson G2 22 3 aN Fortuna | Albert Mack_________ 
Ns. Cz Boucher] 6 2 tee San Francisco |B. H. Miller________ 
CRAP ESTO Wal Ws Sak eee Porterville | HE. V. Moody__--____ 
sv: At Bullardse oe ae Oe a Dunlap | W. J. Moore_________ 
2 URC Bat) 84 0105 (ae) Deg US so EC ae Oakland | J. H. Newsome_______ 
de TN in Pose ee Colma | Chas. R. Perkins____ 
Mec S. Clarkie .2i die ee! San Francisco |B. W. Smalley_______ 
pS Pl Bea ace NU 6 (= te aa a ce a Fresno 
Perens ella cte cer ae Laytonville 
A JL S Canal S itp ROMS Ts ER aes ollarebene er a Watsonville 

SACRAMENTO DIVISION. 

F. M. Newbert, Commissioner in Charge. 
Geo. Neale, Executive Officer. 
Forum Building, Sacramento. 
Phone Main 4300. 

A ese Vero BA cose rrb avd 1h wees eas Red Bluff] R. C. O’Connor______ 
Be WY ae tee te eee ee ET OA Gridley } E. D. Ricketts_______ 
edt ORM Hen Lere ics en eset ae Maxwell| D. E. Roberts_______ 
Geos W. Courtmphto=se aS Canby|J. Sanders ~_-__-__- 
GU G rep y eee eae eS Placerville} R. L. Sinkey__-_____ 
IWiider GLeGMee ce ae ek Sacramento| L. J. Warren_______ 
Ge Ona we Se ee Pe By Weaverville| J. S. White_________ 
BATS sd G7 (6 AVG 1 ean eee A ee aR Los Molinos 


LOS ANGELES DIVISION. 


M. J. Connell, Commissioner in Charge. 


Edwin L. Hedderly, Assistant. 


Pacific Finance Building, Los Angeles. 
Phones: Broadway 1155, Home F' 5705. 


CALIFORNIA STATE PRINTING OFFICE 
SACRAMENTO, 1922 


J. S. Hunter, Assistant Executive Officer. 


Ha pane Fort Bragg 
peti wea Rae Hanford 
H. BH. Foster___Launch “Quinnat,” S. F. 
Chas. Bouton___Launch “Quinnat,” §. FE. 


aa AS el AR. Murphys 
paris Saeki er Truckee 
eas aga eh Woodland 
Leo Taylorsville 
EOE a cae Castella 


1921 ABSTRACT SPORTING FISH AND GAME LAWS = 1923 


OPEN SEASON INCLUDES BOTH DATES GIVEN 


SPECIES DISTRICT QPEN SEASON POSSESSION LIMITS, ETC. 
eas rhe Sept. 1-Oct. 15 Two Bucks per season. 
sore EF zyeS | Aun T-Sent 14 | pucks,” No sale of vertson 
4 Sept. 16-Oct. 15} or skins. 
RABBITS (Cottontail and Bush) ALL Nov. 1-Jan. 15 15 per day. 30 per week. 
TREE SQUIRRELS ALL Sept. 1-Dec. 31 12 per season. 
ELK, ANTELOPE, MOUNTAIN SHEEP ALL He Open Season Killing Elk a felony. 
SEA OTTER, BEAVER ALL Ne Open Season | $1,000 fine for Sea Otter. 
BEAR, FUR ANIMALS ALL Oct. 15-Feb. 28 
~—\""'25 per day, except Geese. 
DUCKS, GEESE, JACKSNIPE, MUD HENS ALL Oct. 1-Jan. 15 &S Geese Weekly Limit. 


See law. 


RAIL, WOODDUCK, PIGEONS, SHORE BIRDS ALL No Open Seasen 


ALL TT actan qe | Walley, Desert, 15 per day. 
Nov. 1-Jan. 15 s 
: Except 1/4 30 per week. 
QUAIL (Valley, Desert, Mountain) Mountain, 10 per day. 
ly Oct. 15-Dee. 15 _ 20 per week. 
ALL 
Aug. 1-Sept. 15 
SAGE HEN Except 4/2 4 per day. & per week. 
AV No Open Season 
DOVE ALL Sept. 1-Oct. 31 | 15 per day. 30 per week. 
GROUSE ‘ ALL Sept. 15-Oct.14| 4 per day. §& per week. 
1-1!/,-2-3-4-4)/4 ¢ ; 
Lake Almanor 3| May 1-Oct. 31 
2’ July 1-Feb. 14 
23-24-25 May 30-0ct.31 
TROUT (Except Golden), WHITE FISH Lakes, Etc | Avs. 1-Oct. 31 See Gama Law Alutiect 
12 Winter | Nov. 1-Dec. 31 
2-3-10 Tidewater| Dec. 15-Feb. 28 
2-2'/o-10 Spear | April 1-Jan. 31 
GOLDEN TROUT ALL June 30-Oct. 1 | 20 per day. None under 5 in. 
ALL, Except 4e, zi 
BLACK BASS Clear Lake May 1-Nov. 30 25 per ek hos under 7 In. 
pte ARES Ee EE o sale. 
4e, Clear Lake | No Closed Season 
SACRAMENTO PERCH, SUNFISH, CRAPPIE ALL May 1-Nov. 30 25 per day. 
STRIPED BASS, SHAD ALL No Closed Season See Game Abstract. 
ALL 
No Closed Season 
SALMON )__Except15 | | ~—sSee Game Abstract. 
15 April 1-Aug. 31 
CATFISH ALL Aug. 15-May 14 | Closed for commercial fishing. 
CRABS ALL Nov. 15-July 30 See Game Abstract. 
ABALONES ALL Mar.16-Jan. 14 See Game Abstract. 
PISMO CLAMS L7 Sept. 1-April 30 See Game Abstract. 
SPINY LOBSTER ALL Oct. 15-Feb. 28 See Game Abstract. 


*Special provision see Game Abstract. 


HUNTING LICENSES 
License Year from July | to June 30 
Residents, $1.00. Non-residents, $10.00. Certain 
Allens, $10.00. Other Aliens, $25.00. 
ANGLING LICENSES 
License Year from January {| to December 3! 
Residents, $1.00. Non-Residents, $3.00. Allens, 
TRAPPING LICENSES 
License Year from July { to June 30 
Citizens, $1.00. Aliens, $2.00. 


HILAL 


3 9088 01021 1704 


————aaI