The Portland daily press. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1862-1921, 1893-06-12

CHINESE FISHERMAN. cording to the re-
port Of the United States commissioner
of fish and fisheries, "have little regard
for law" and that ''they use illegal and
destructive methods" for the capture Of
fish, and. says the report, ssthe various
Species Of floating fish eggs which are
annually destroyed in this way must be
enormous.
Laws have been passed by the Cali
fornia state legislature to restrict or
minimize the effect of the ravages Of the
Chinese fishermen. But the Cinnamon
continue in their werk of DISCRIMINATING
the supply of food fishes on the Pacific
coast, defy the laws and necessities Of
this country and admit allegiance only
to China, to which country the bulk of
their captures is shipped.
There are employed in the fisheries Of
San Francisco, which is the center Of the
Pacific coast fisheries, 2,512 men, of
whom 807, or about one-third, are Chi
nese. Not one of these 807 is natural
lied citizen of the United States.
But it is the baneful influence of this
temporary colony upon the great fishery
which have outlined that affects this
article. The bulk Of their captures con-
sists Of shrimp and small Gmmature)
fishes, SO that shall deal statistically
only with these species.
According to the returns Of the fish
and fisheries commission, there were cap
tured in Californian waters in 1883
4.902, $50 pounds of shrimp and prawns,
valued at $141 ,66s, and 4, 250, 900 pounds
of miscellaneous fish, exclusive Of salm-
on, ced, shad, etc.. valued at $101, 760,
most of which was captured by the Chi
nese and shipped to China.
It is estimated that in this collection
of miscellaneous fish there were at least
1900, 900 pounds Of immature salmon
and other species measuring on an aver
age II to 8 inches long. As it would
take over 100 Of these young fishes to
weigh one pound, we have here evil
dence that the Chinese rob the Pacific
coast waters Of over 20o, 0o0, 900 young
fishes annually. These immature fishes
are chiefly salmon, and the average
weight Of the salmon found in these
waters being at least Is pounds it is
evident that it they were not captured
by the Chinese, but were allowed to at
tain maturity, the Californian waters
would be annually richer by 5000, 000,-
900 pounds Of the best species Of food
fishes. ~. 5a
+ Extending this calculation further, If
we estimate the value Of this immense
quantity Of fish at the lowest price paid
for salmon in the San Francisco market
wiz, 10 cents per pound-we will find
that it reaches the enormous cash equiv
alent Of 500, 900, 0oo,0 900. Of course an
enormous proportion Of young fish never
reaches maturity. They die from nat
ural causes or are used for food by the
larger fishes, but if we assume, as it is
often claimed, that 90 out Of every 100
are destroyed in this way we have still
remaining $3.50, 600, 900 worth of fish Of
which the Pacific coast waters are an
pually robbed by the depredations of the
Chinese.
The United States commission Of fish
and fisheries has repeatedly called atten-
ton to these facts in general way, and
1 now analyze their figures in order that
the public shall be made aware Of the
true reasons why the fisheries Of Cali
fornia have become so Every nearly ex-
hausted." My calculations of the loss
of salmon caused by the illegal fisheries
of the Chinese may appear to be exag-
gerated to those who have not studied
the importance of our fishing industries,
but the fact that, according to the Gus
tom house returns of San Francisco, TO-
$685. 1858 pounds Of canned salmon We're
exported from that city in 1889 will
make my figures more readily under
stood W. G. COTTON.