The shallow waters of San Francisco Bay, the ocean for some miles out from shore, and the waters about the islands of Southern California form very valuable fishing grounds, which, if they are taken care of, will furnish much larger supplies of fish than are now obtained.
The interesting discovery has been made that the waters around the islands of Santa Catalina and San Clemente form important spawning grounds for many food fish, including the great tuna. These waters were fished so destructively that many of the fish were found to be decreasing. This has led to the establishment of a fish preserve for three miles about Santa Catalina Island. Within this area no fish are allowed to be taken except with a hook and line. Some of the most valuable fish, which were almost gone, are now becoming more numerous. The fact that the fish stay close about the island where the water is shallow makes the establishment of the preserve possible.
The salmon and halibut fisheries of the Alaskan waters have long been the source of much profit. This region, owing to the many bays and islands, fairly swarms with fish of many kinds. Protection will soon be needed here if this great storehouse of fish is to be kept filled.
The cod fisheries of the Newfoundland banks are among the most valuable in the world, and are almost the only ones where fishing has long been carried on and where the supply is not decreasing. The "banks" are formed by a great flat reef four hundred miles long, over which the water is shallow enough to offer a fine home for cod.
Hatcheries have been established in many parts of our country for the purpose of collecting and hatching fish eggs. These are used for restocking those waters that have been fished out. After the eggs have hatched and the young fish have reached a certain stage, they are shipped to the streams where they are needed. The United States fishery on the McCloud River, California, has distributed rainbow trout all over the United States. Shad and striped bass have been brought from Eastern fisheries and planted in Pacific Coast waters, where they are now rapidly increasing.
Thus we learn that valuable food fish live within certain narrow bounds instead of being distributed all through the waters of the globe. It is as easy, with our many ingenious devices of net and weir, to destroy the inhabitants of the water as it is to destroy those of the land with guns.