UC San Diego Library – Scripps Digital Collection

This bulletin is the eleventh in a series begun in 1929, designed to present the detailed records of the commercial fish catch of the State. Continuing the practice of the former issues in this series, the statistical records for 1947 are here presented in considerable detail.

The current records are of interest but occasionally a review of the statistics is necessary to show the over-all picture and the trends in the minor fisheries for which no intensive program of study has been inaugurated. In 1937, Fish Bulletin No. 49 was published and gave such a review covering the period from 1916, when the record was begun, through 1935. The information gathered for that bulletin has proven of great value to the administrators, the patrol officers, the research workers in the field and the people in the industry.

During World War II the staff of the Bureau of Marine Fisheries was limited and although the statistical program was maintained it was only possible to follow the trends in the major fisheries. During 1948, in conjunction with their major projects, the field workers gathered information concerning minor species with a view toward outlining the history and explaining the reasons for the trends which appeared in the graphs drawn from the yearly totals for the individual species. These observations are set forth in the text which accompanies the graphs and cover the period from 1916 through 1947. To add to the value of the record there has been prepared a set of tables which appear in the back of the bulletin and give the yearly totals for each species. Most yearly totals include only the catch of the California fishing fleet, others include the record of fish imported for canning in the California plants or for sale in the fresh fish markets in competition with the local catch.

The statistical tables are prepared from fish receipts which are made by the markets and canneries at the time of first delivery of the fish. One copy of this original record goes to the fisherman, one is retained by the purchaser and the third copy is collected by the State. Each year since 1926 the Bureau of Marine Fisheries has published a statistical report in the form of a circular which gives a record of the catch and the canned fishery products. Since this circular is printed within a few months after the close of the calendar year, the catch figures therein are preliminary records, subject to revision. A year or two later the Catch Bulletin, similar to this one, is published and includes all supplemental items and corrections; therefore the two sets of published tables may be at variance. In preparing the yearly totals for the long term review in this issue, further discrepancies in the records have come to light and adjustments have been made accordingly.

Marine sport catch records and the live bait totals do not enter the commercial catch tables but they represent an important part of the yield of the marine fisheries. Such records as are available for these fisheries have been included in separate tables accompanying the discussions. A different phase of the industry is represented in the record of the Alaska cod caught by California vessels. The California plant merely completed the processing of fish caught, cleaned and salted in Alaska. Seaweed and kelp cutting is under the jurisdiction of the Division of Fish and Game but detailed records are withheld to avoid divulging the volume of business of the few concerns involved. The only whaling station in operation in the United States is in California and the by-products of this plant compete with the by-products of the State's fishing industry. The whaling industry is regulated by federal agencies. The record presented is published with the permission of the company officials.