Sacramento daily record-union. [volume] (Sacramento [Calif.]) 1875-1891, 1884-06-07
FISH IN THE SACRAMENTO.
Nov the Salmon Spawning Grounds are
Being Despoiled- Remarkable Increase
NJ Ghad-Ftc,

How the salmon Spawning Grounds are
Being Despoled- Remarkable Increase
of Shad-Etc.
Fish Commissioner buckingham is without
doubt as well posted on fish, particularly those
Of the Sacramento river, as any man on the
coast. Having been q fisherman for upwards of
twenty-five years his knowledge in that line
peculiarly fitted him for the Office TO which he
was appointed, and which he has well filed.
His efforts as well as those of the two other
Commissioners, Messrs Redding and Dibbie,
have been 10 stock the rivers and streams OF the
State with food fish, and so far as possible 10
prohibit fishing during the close season, and the
use of Illegal nets aud seines at all times. The
Board. through its agents, having patrolled the
river and bays. and in a great measure stopped
the illegal fshing OF several hundred Portuguese
and Greeks. and upwards of . coo Chinese, Com
missioner Buckingham thought he would visit
the salmon spawning grounds irthe Sacramento
river III the neignb0rhood OF the town of Colusa.
Here 10 his utter establishment, he found ten
well regulated fisheries locatea on the gravel
bars or spawning grounds Which extend one
mile below and three miles above the town.
These fisheries are conducted both by Chinese
and white men. They take from the stream
LARGE QUANTITIES OF sIiAD
And salmon What fish pass through the seven
and & quarter-inch mesh of the nets used IN the
river at and below Sacramento city are taken
in seine-uets which are about thirty tathons
in length, with mesh only three and one half
inches in size They do all their fishing on
grs.velly bars and rifles The fishermen them
selves acknowledge that they cast their nets on
spawning grounds often capture fish in the act
of spawning, and that their nets kill all the
eggs there deposited.
Mr. Buckingham caused the arrest of ten of
the yiolatoIs, and prosecuted them in the, tOwn
Of Colusa. The citizens of that place at first
syInpathized with the fishermen, and for time
it looked as though a conviction by a jury
would be an impossiblity. They seemed to
think that the object Of the Fish Commissioners
visit was to Cypress their people and deprive
their local markets of fish. When, however,
the Fish Commissioner obtained an opportunity
10 explain his duties he showed them how the
continuance of that kind of fishing would rob
our streams of both salmon and shad. It was
not the loss of the fish, but
THE DESTRUCTION OF SPAWN
Which he complained of. He also explained TO
them that if the same sized seines were used in
the river in the ueighborhood of Sacramento
city they would not catch a salmon or shad at
Cousa. With such arguments he convinced all
the fair-ninded people that it was TO their in
terest, well that of the entire State, to pro-
tect the spawning grounds and prohibit the fish
ing with nets of the size used by their local
fishermen. OF all those arrested but three were
convicted, the juries refusing to find an en-
pIOyer guilty.. Inc three men VINO were con-
yicted were fined $50 each. One fisherman
informed Mr. Buckingham that three years
ago he captured 800 large-sized salmon in seven
hours ON the spawning grounds near Colusa ;
of them were so ripe as to be unfit for food
and had to he thrown away The Commissioner
thinks that the only way to save the total ami
hilation of salmon and Shad in the Sacramento
river is TO have the Legislature at its next
sion enact Il law prohibiting the fishing with
nets above Jacinto. The fishermen in the
neighborhood of Colusa were protected while
prosecuting their illegal vocation by pickets,
who patroled the banks with Winchester rifles,
and warned Oft all persons who offered to APP
proach.
The run of salmon in the river has increased
slightly during the past two weeks, but is too
light TO be profitable TO fishermen, and not
enough 10 give employment 10 the cauneries.
More salmon are
BEING CAUGHT IN THE TULES
Than in the river The Commissioner thinks
that thousands of them will be lost when the
waters recede and the tules dry up He suggests
that if an opening were made from the tues
into Cache creek the spawn OF many thousand
salmon would be saved
The salmon fishing in the bays and Sacra-
mento. river is great industry, the fishing
ground extending over 400 miles. In the first
100 miles are used over 800 salmon nets, with
neshes ranging i'll size from ~ inches to So.
Over 5000 Chinese are engaged in the business
&iong San Pablo Bay.
He saws if fishermen in the neighborhood of
Colusa would use nets with neShes 60 inches in
Size they would not Se nolested. This he thinks
would be about right, from the fact that the
further a fish goes up stream the thinner ne
gets, and consequently could pass through a
smaller mesh The towns of Marysyille, Red
Bluff, Chico. Arbuckle Williams. and other
towns are supplied with an abundance of shad
and salmon thus illegally taken. The fishermen
al COlusG say the
Run or suAD HAS INCREASED
AT least $50 per cent. this year, and some OF the
boats catch as high as 1885 2 day, varying in size
from four to eight pounds.
Buckingham is of the opinion that, while for
local food fish the Introduction of shad was
good thing in a commercial view it bad
thing, for the following reason The meshes OF
chad net are only half the size of q salmon net,
and viii Of course catch the calves of salmon
which once caught viii not be returned to the
water The fisherman, as q general thing, Is
improvident and does not look forward TO the
next years catch. He said he verify believed
If all the salmon in the Sacramento river were
caught except one female, ana she was on her
way up the river 10 the spawning grounds,
ninety nine out Of every one hundred fishermen
along the river would strive to capture her, SO
10 be able TO say that they caught the last
salmon