The San Francisco call. [volume] (San Francisco [Calif.]) 1895-1913, 1895-05-02
NO EASY WORK FOR THEM,
Fish Commissioners Who Have
Trouble to Collect
Licenses.
A Night on the Sacramento River
That Fishermen Will
Remember.

The Fish Commissioners have by no
means the easy sailing that a majority of
the people of this State imagine. The gen.
eral belief is that the office of Fish Com
missioner is, in respect to ease, like water
falling from ducks back. This is great
mistake, and the sooner the people of the
State who are interested in the fish and
game interests are acquainted with the true
facts the better it viii be for all con cerned.
1t must be remem bered that the officers
of the Fish Commission receive no salary.
The office is solely one of honor, and is
sought after only by men who are deeply
interested in the preservation and mainte.
nance of the game and fish of this State.
In brief, only anglers and sportsmen in
the true sense will accept such an office
The public, which comprises all sorts of
men with divers ideas, shave opinions to
express regarding the doings of the new
Fish and Game Commission, but few of
the people most deeply interested in the
subjects that pertain to game and fish will
interest themselves to the extent of paying
a visit to the headquarters of the commits
sion and acquiring information which will
not only place them in position to argue
correctly the doings of the commission,
but in case of any matter in dispute they
will be fortified with facts sufficient to
knock out any opinions that cannot be
grounded on facts.
The Fish Commissioners are doing valu-
able work in the interest of the citizens of
the State. The salmon, which is unques-
tionably the most edible and marketable
of fish sold by the fish merchants of this
City, would certainly become extinct in
fy1f1 In Foe cir al OF
fishermen were allowed an unrestricted
right toward depicting the rivers aud
bays of this table fish.
1t is a well known fact that the net
fishermen, who are principally composed
OF Greeks and Italians, do not observe any
law, and will catch salmon at all seasons
If permitted to do so. Those foreigners pay
no attention to the law, and, unless they
should be restricted from catching fish
during prescribed months of the year when
the salmon are on the run to their spawn
ing grounds, it would not be many years
hence when the king of food fishes would
be as scarce In the markets of this City as
the highly priced pompano.
AS an illustration to evidence the an
noyance the Deputy Fish Commissioners
meet with occasionally when collecting
licenses from the professional fishermen
1t is only necessary to cite one instance in
which blood was shed before the deputies
could convince the foreigners that the law
must be observed. 1t was last Saturday
night when Deputies w. F. Mcfarland
and II. Davis ran down upo crew of
net fishermen who were illegally catching
salmon. Their nets were confiscated and
the fishermen placed under arrest. The
transgressors of the law were escorted to
Collinsville and fined, but when they re-
gained their boats they became abusive
and insulting and threatened the Deputy
Commissioners with all kinds of damage.
Mcfarland, to guard himself against at
tack, was compelled to pull his pistol in
defense, and young fellow who flourished
a knife IN his face was saved from being
made target of by the interference of his
father, who stepped between the deputy
and the man who swore he would carve
the Commissioner into mincemeat. All
this disturbance was caused by the Greek
fishermen. who thought that they had
perfect right to fish at all times and all
sea5ons, regardless of the law, which they
looked upon as being a dead letter. I'm
fortunately, there are some country
Judges who take sides with the lawbreak-
ers, and, as matter of course, the deputy
Flsh commissioners have reason to COM
plain against the treatment they receive
from Judges and juries who are favorably
disposed toward class of men who are
bugbear to the interests of the commission
and the people of the State.