The daily intelligencer. [volume] (Seattle, Wash. Territory [i.e. Wash.]) 1876-1881, 1879-08-05

II pOuuls. the DlAck COD, >. -MrI1n0ps,
which seldom exceeds 8 pounds. s.
Ntgr0cinctus, very rare; 5. AuriculItus.
Is inches long at the longest; and the
blue rock cod, Ophio.ion El0ngdtus. so
pounds are caught near the Goldeu
Gate, and As far south az Monterey Bay
with troll-lines. to be sold fresh in Sau
Francisco market. Most Of the fish sold
in the market are much smaller than
the largest size here mentioned.
The same lines catch founders Of "a
nous species the most common is the
Ihti,hthys SteLJdtus. II pounds. soles
Of varlous species (the most common is
the HiPIogl0ssoide. Mldnostieus. Is
inches long, the bast ri halibut Crop.
.ttH CdlJorAicd. 60 pounds and feet
long, and very rarely the true halibu..
The barracuda is caught by troll
line. near Santa Cruz ank Monterey.
from March to June, inclusive. and is
sn excellent table fish.
The San Francisco boats engaged in
troll-fishing in the ocean number
60, and from to men each to . boat
usually. The line is about q mile long,
requires two hour, TO run out. three
hours to haul in, and a good catch at
one haul from its 400 hooks is 500
pounds though occasionally reaching
1000.
The seincs are used in San Francisco.
Tomales and Monterey Bays. for the
viysporous perch OF the Embiotocide
family. the smelts Of the Athrinopsis,
Omerus. and other genera; the herring
(Cuip.a Kirabiiis). the sturgeon, which
occasionally reaches weight Of 500
pounds, shark. tom cod. and other fish.
The nets, 600 yards long and two fa.
thoms deep. are managed by boats,
with two or three men in each boat.
The herring are caught from. October
to March, inclusive, in the meshes, by
letting the net boat with the tide.
against which the herring run. The
smell, spawn in August. but are caught
throughout the year; the founders
spawn and the viviporous perch give
birth to their little fish in April and
MAY. T., sides the small sharks taken
Ia thn IN ,ll"w waite. with se,nes, there
have II en :iues when large ones were
caught at SAac-lito with hooks, for
,h-Ir hve,>. which yield an excellent
Iuhr,c.tiux nil. Some of these thus
,.kel were IL feet long. Of the man.
eating ~, cies. but We do not remember
r-ad'u" that any OF the: numerous bath
ers Ia our Bay have ever been attacked
hy t!e". Small sharks caught by the
Chlnr.- are eaten fresh or dried, and
dried shark fins are shipped to China Is
..elicacy. and also consumed here.
The white fishermen Of San Francisco
humber about 500. of whom more than
half are Ital ans. and the remainder
Dalmatians. Greeks. Portuguese and
Americans The gross amount of their
sales at first hand is probably not far
from $500 day. The troll-ishing is
done from Is to GO fathoms Of water,
mostly near the shore, from Pigeon
Point to Monterey. There is bank
mile wide and nine miles long. with
water from 3S to so fathoms, suitable
for trolling. % miles south Of the Far
nlloGes.
Smack fishing has been tried for the
San Francisco and Humboldt Bay mar
k.ts without success. The fish died
when the boats entered the bay. proba.
bly, because the fresh. or half fresh,
water was fatal 10 them. Years have
elapsed since these experiments were
made with we'll hole vessels. and We
hope that better results will be OBJ
t.insd in the future. Most OF the fish
sold in the San Francisco market have
been dead six, and many OF them
twelve. hours before reaching the cook.
Our coast has extensive fisheries that
are neglected, including the halibut off
Cape FlstteIy; the mullet. along the
shore from Santa Barbara south ward.
especially in Msgdslena Bay; the Cali
fornis maokerel, Jewish and sheephead.
A little has been done in smoking her
ring. canning sardins and anchovy, and
making cavsir out of sturgeon roe, but
these industries have not reached i'm
portance.
The fresh oysters consumed in Cali
fornia are mostly brought when small
tho shells 40 large as half dollar
in the cars from New York. and plsntsd
about year, in which time the shell
doubles in length and the oyster quad.
ruples 10 weight. The oysters fatteu
more rspiply in our Bay than on the
Atlantic Coast, but the mud bottom. or
some other influence 10 not favorable to
tho life Of the young, and. therefore.
though they spawn from April to Sep
tember, there is no increase. and new
supplies have to be brought every year
the importatiop for planting being.
in an average year. 100000. while
one fifth as many large - small ones
are brounht to be eaten without fatten-
ing. There are few small indigenous
to our Bay. but they have no CONNER
cisl value. The only Pacific oysters
are from shoalwater Bay, which sends
about 10000. 600 GOO in . busheD to
San FRANCISCO annually; and before the
railroad days sent nearly three times as
many. The Shoalwstsr oysters ere put
into the Bay to keep them alive. but do
not gain much in size, and are known
in the market as "California oysters"
The oyster importing houses-E. Terry
& Co.. Morgan s. Co, Swanburg 4
West, Doane & Co, the Bay City Oys-
ter Company. and the Shoalwater Bay
Oyster Company-have each an oyster
ground in the Bay. that OF Terry & Co
being on the Alameda shore. south OF
the town uf Alameda. aud those Of the
Others on the San MAteo shore. near
Millbrae. The grounds are fenced in
with pickeis. four inches apart, to keep
out s,ingrays-flat- -tish-which eat the
oysters There ara large oysters in the