Hopkins Marine Station (1918-1950)

California Fish and Game @ Hopkins Marine Station

The fifty year history of California Fish and Game staff positioned at Stanford University’s Hopkins Marine Station has seldom, if ever, been recognized. The history begins in 1919, the first year Fish and Game was offered space at Hopkins. Stepping back one must recognize that the Fish and Game studies in California started in 1914. At that time, there was a Fish Commission composed of five men who decided that there must be a marine fisheries investigation in the waters off California. To accomplish this marine fisheries investigation, they organized a Department of Commercial Fisheries and named Norman Bishop Scofield its Director.( Clark: California Marine Fisheries Investigations, 19 14-39). Scofield would direct the marine research for the State of California for the next 42 years. N.B. Scofield, recognized as the “father” of marine fisheries research in California , was a member of the first graduating class of Stanford University in 1895. Norman then earned an M.A. degree in zoology from that institution in 1897 while studying under renowned ichthyologist Professor Charles H. Gilbert. In 1914, NB Scofield was selected as chief of the Department of Commercial Fisheries, (later changed to the Bureau of Marine Fisheries), under the California Fish and Game Commission.

1917-1925
From the start of his tenure as Director of California Fish and Game, Scofield recognized he needed to get a better understanding of the biology of commercially important fishes, such as albacore tuna and sardines being caught in California water. For these efforts he hired William F. Thompson in 1917. Thompson’s efforts to usher in marine fisheries research in California lasted from 1917 to 1925. During this time, he initiated research programs first on the albacore tuna, Thunnus alalunga, and then on the Pacific sardine, Sardinops sagax. Thompson’s research approach was to study the fisheries directly, rather than studying the environment (Kendall and Duker, 1998). Beyond establishing these two programs, Thompson helped found and then directed the commission’s first marine fisheries research laboratory, on Terminal Island in San Pedro.

In addition to hiring WF Thompson, was the need for a new patrol boat to support the efforts to be undertaken by California fish and game. An article mentioning the new boat, Albacore, was published in the San Pedro News Pilot, in October 1917.

PATROL BOAT FOR FISH AND GAME BOARD : The California fish and game commission recently placed a contract with the Fulton Shipyard at San Pedro for the construction of a new boat which will be used for both patrol work and scientific investigation along the coast of southern California, from Point Conception to the Mexican line. The boat, which is to be named the Albacore, is designed on lines very similar to those of the tuna boats used in this locality, adapted to meet the needs of her special work, and will have ample deck room for "handling nets and other apparatus used in the investigations. The new boat is to be built of wood, and will have a length of 60 feet, with a beam of 12 feet and a draft of 5 feet. Her deck houses will be abaft the single mast from which a long boom projects over and beyond the pilot house, designed for hoisting nets and all the gear used in connection with the investigations. Aft of the pilot house the deck has not yet been fully planned, but a commodious state: room will be provided, containing four bunks and comfortable quarters for the crew and two of the investigators of the fish and game commission. A laboratory is to be fit ted up in the fore peak, with bed room of 6 feet 10 inches. One of the notable features of the I craft will be her power plant, which will be the first Installation made by the new Acme Gas Engine company. The engine will have four cylinders, with a power of 65 b. h. p., and will give the boat a speed of something over 10 miles per hour. The engine will he connected with a winch on deck. According to the commission’s plans, the boat’s company will include, besides the crew, N. B. Scofield of the commission’s commercial fisheries department, and Dr. W. F. Thompson, who is starting special tuna investigations for the commission, making his headquarters at Long Beach. The commission already has four boats in service: the Quinnat, Baracouda. Shad, and Audubon, and with the new vessel will be well equipped to handle both police and scientific branches of the work. (San Pedro News Pilot, Volume 5, Number 1, 1 October 1917)

Shortly after the patrol boat was completed, the Captain found the opportunity to test out the Albacore.

NEW PATROL BOAT TESTED: The state’s new commercial fisheries patrol boat Albacore, recently constructed for the fish and game commission had her first real trial trip during storm of last week, when after lying all night under the lee of Catalina island In watch tor commercial violators as the high prices for fish and the comparative quiet of that sheltering shore might have tempted into taking chances with the law, Capt. Nidever stood out to sea. Against a stiff gale, bucking right into the teeth of the wintry whitecaps at full speed, the new boat stood to her hjvork splendidly, and satisfied her captain, who had plenty of rough water experience in the navy. The Albacore shipped no solid water at all, the specially designed, yacht like flare of her bows lifting her easily above everything in the Clemente channel but spray, and as a result Capt. Nidever says he would be willing to go to Honolulu in her if necessary. The patrol boat returned to sea Friday morning, carrying the Japanese commercial fishing experts whom the fish and game commission has secured from the Imperial Fisheries college of Japan to introduce scientific deep trolling methods among the albacore fishers who supply the tuna canneries, as it is thought from the evidence uncovered by Dr. William P. Thompson of the State’s food fish investigating staff that the albacore can be taken all winter by trolling sufficiently deep, for them. By developing this method the packing of tuna might become a year round Industry instead of giving away entirely to sardines during colder months. (San Pedro Daily News, 23 February 1918)

In his position, W. F. Thompson was responsible for hiring a staff of scientists, many of whom subsequently became renowned for their work in fisheries research. Among the first hired were Oscar Elton Sette, Elmer Higgins, Francis Naomi Clark and William Launce Scofield, [nicknamed Lance] a younger brother of Eugene C. Scofield. For the Sardine industry, California Fish and Game needed to determine whether extensive fishing for sardines in waters off San Diego or Monterey would deplete the supply, and if so, by how much.

HUNTING SARDINES: As an answer to appeals made by San Diego sardine canneries and the fishermen, the California state fish and game commission, has sent to this port Elmer Higgins. in charge of a party which will investigate and attempt to learn why the smaller sardines, known as “quarter oils,” are not to be found and why and with what currents the fish migrate. ( Blade Tribune, Volume XXX, Number 7, 15 February 1919)

In the fall of 1919, the Fish and Game Commission was granted the courtesy of accommodations at Hopkins Marine Station, by the director, Dr. W. K. Fisher. Space was provided in the Agassiz building of Hopkins Marine Station to W. F. Thompson and Oscar Elton Sette who began an investigating the life history of the sardines. At the time, the sardine fishing season in the Monterey area stretched from August to February., The following year Sette (1920) reported that the Monterey Bay fishery had increased in volume by eight-fold over the catches three years prior.( Dunn, J. . Richard. William Francis Thompson (1888–1965) and the Dawn of Marine Fisheries Research in California. Marine Fisheries Review 62.2. 15-24). Sette report recognizes how rapidly the sardine fishery was expanding in the Monterey Bay, and how the Hopkins seaside laboratory was perfectly positioned for members of Fish and Game to conduct their research.

These early cooperative sardine investigations with Stanford’s Hopkins Marine Station and the State of California laid a framework that led into an expanded research program in the late 1940’s named CALCOFI (California Cooperative Oceanic Fisheries Investigations) a multi-agency partnership formed in 1949 to investigate the collapse of the sardine population off California

EXTENSION TESTS OF SARDINES MADE BY COMMISSION: Measurements Made by Invention of Thompson and Higgins. A novel branch of the investigation work being carried on at the scientific laboratory of the California Fish and Game Commission at 259 Sixth street, consists of taking the measurements and weights of hundreds of specimens, particularly sardines. These measurements are taken by means of an elaborate apparatus built especially for the commission, after designs by W. F. Thompson and Elmer Higgins, of the department of commercial fisheries. The machine works perfectly and shows lengths and other measurements of the body with the most minute accuracy working almost automatically and giving the required data at a glance. In addition to the measuring instrument the office has just been equipped with one half gram, or approximately one-sixtieth of an ounce, averdupois. Specimens are brought to the laboratory daily and tested by these methods, and a complete record of weight, length, sexual, maturity, fatness and general condition carefully kept. From all this investigation it is expected that the commission will be able to decide the question of whether the, sardines, at the various points' in California waters, are being exploited beyond the point of safety so far as to jeopardize the future of the fishing and canning industry, a fate already suffered by the halibut and salmon in the conclusions may also be drawn concerning the migrations of the North Pacific fish and the extent of interdependence of the different fishing areas. Thus it will be possible to say whether extensive fishing for sardines at Monterey or San Diego will deplete the supply at this port or visa versa, and if so, to what extent, and when these facts are well established, it will then be possible to enact fair and constructive laws to perpetuate this great fishery Professor Thompson, who is directing the scientific work at Monterey and San Pedro, was formerly fish expert for the provincial fisheries of British Columbia, and is well known as an authority. The local work is under the immediate direction of Elmer Higgins at temporary- quarters on West Sixth street. N The investigation will be greatly expedited when the proposed permanent laboratory building at East San Pedro is completed and a staff of regular investigators established there. The present investigations, however, are being observed with a great deal of interest by local canners and marketmen, but particularly by the commissioners, who realize that the responsibility of preserving the fisheries of California rests squarely upon themselves as agents of the people. (San Pedro Daily News, Volume XIX, Number 304, 13 January 1921)

In 1921, the California State Fisheries Laboratory at Terminal Island in San Pedro was completed and staff moved into the headquarters. Parallel efforts to understand the life history of sardines in the waters off Southern California were being conducted by Elmer Higgins at San Pedro. Also that year, in 1921, W. L. Scofield joined the team, and working with Oscar Sette in Monterey, continued the investigation of the life history of sardines in Northern waters (Monterey Bay). Together, the two men would continue this research for the next several year, spitting their time between San Pedro and Monterey. Next to join the research effort was Tage Skogsberg, who later became a member of Stanford faculty, positioned at Hopkins Marine Station.

DR. T. SKOGSBERG, NOTED BIOLOGIST, STUDIES MARINE LIFE. Prof, W. F. Thompson, W. L. Scofield and O. E. Sette of the Department of Commercial Fisheries of the California Fish and Game Commission, have arrived here, accompanied by Dr. T. Skogsberg, of the University of Upsala, Sweden. They have been busily engaged today in going over data which has been, in course of preparation for several months past by Elmer Higgins, assisted by H. L. Holmes in the local laboratory in the rear of 259 Sixth street. A close study has been made of the habits and movements, as well as the development of several species of piscatorial life, but, particularly of the pilchard, or sardine, as it is commonly known. Dr. Skogsberg is a noted biologist in his own country and has now been in the United States since November 15, with the especial object of studying certain forms of marine animal life, the opportunities for which are much aided by such institutions as the local laboratory. It is proposed to ascertain by these investigations just what effect heavy fishing which has been, going on for several years past is having on the supply, so that the Fish and Game Commission may proceed intelligently in asking for legislation should any further such be needed. (San Pedro Daily News, Volume XIX, Number 48, 23 March 1921)

The following month, a newspaper article reported that W. F. Thompson had moved from Pacific Grove to San Pedro, coinciding with the opening of the new Terminal Island laboratory.

LABORATORY DIRECTOR TO MOVE FAMILY HERE: Prof. W. F. Thompson, director of the laboratory work of the California Fish and Game Commission, will move his family here from Pacific Grove, Monterey County, about May 1. He formerly lived at Long Beach, but his work in the near future promises to be principally in the laboratory soon to be built at East San Pedro. For the past few years Prof. Thompson has been conducting his experiments and observations from the Hopkins Marine Station at Pacific Grove, the institution being one of the institutions which are branches of Stanford (San Pedro Daily News, Volume XIX, Number 71, 20 April 1921)

Several months later, a newspaper article reported that Tage Skogsberg had begun assisting Thompson with the fisheries investigation at the Biological Station of the University of California in La Jolla, California.

Mr. Skogsberg, who has recently been appointed to assist Dr. Thompson in albacore investigations for the California Fish and Game Commission, arrived at the Station last Saturday for a few days of shore line collecting before assuming his new duties. He came to the Hopkins Marine Laboratory of Stanford University at Pacific Grove in November, 1920, direct from Sweden where he has attained considerable prominence amongst marine scientists. Upon coming to Pacific Grove he undertook to collect marine specimens for three different Swedish Museums and his trip down here is for the purpose of getting such material from this locality. (BIOLOGICAL STATION NOTES La Jolla Light and La Jolla Journal, Volume IX, Number 20, 1 July 1921)

Mr. Skogsberg has gone to San Pedro for three months with Dr. Thompson for the California Fish and Game Commission albacore investigations. ( La Jolla Light and La Jolla Journal, Volume IX, Number 21, 8 July 1921)

Over the next few years, Thompson and Sette are mentioned as working with Scofield, collecting data on the sardines in the waters of Monterey.

Mr. W. F. Thompson and Mr. W. L. Scofield, of the California Fish and Game Commission, have spent the greater part of the year at the Station investigating the life history of the sardine and albacore.” (Report 1920-1921). Mr. W. L. Scofield, of the California Fish and Game Commission, continued during the year investigation of the life history of the sardine. (Report 1922). “Mr. W. L. Scofield and Mr. O. E. Sette, of the State Fish and Game Commission, continued work during the year on the life history of the sardines” (Annual Report Of The President of Stanford University For The Thirty-Second Academic Year Ending August 31, 1923 Stanford University, California Published By The University 1924.)

Unfortunately, for Norm Scofield, in the early 1920s, the federal government was paying its biologists more than the California Department of Fish and Game was paying. So the research team charged with studying sardine life history fell apart. Oscar Sette and Elmer Higgins left California Fish and Game for the Atlantic Coast to work for the federal government; and there were very few working at the laboratory.

Years later, in 1935 Elmer Higgins, then Division Chief of the U. S. Bureau of Fisheries (which became the U. S. Fish and Wildlife Service in 1939), hired Rachel Carson for a temporary assignment to write a series of fifty-two short scripts for radio programs on marine life that the Bureau was preparing. Higgins asked her to write an educational brochure for the Bureau, the result which was too literary, he suggested Carson should submit the text to the Atlantic magazine.

REPORT OF THE STATE FISHERIES LABORATORY PERSONNEL
Since the submission of the last report very great changes in the personnel of the laboratory have occurred. The consideration of these changes will indicate certain alterations which necessarily have to be made in program and in organization in order that the work will continue and be fruitful and it will explain certain limitations which have been put upon the work. Upon the employment of Mr. WF Thompson to direct the scientific work in southern California it was necessary to obtain and train assistants since none already trained were obtainable. Mr. Elmer Higgins, Mr. WL Scofield Mr. OE Sette, Mr. Harlan B Holmes, Miss Frances N Clark and Dr. Tage Skogsberg comprised the staff of the State Fisheries Laboratory at the time of the last biennial report. All of these had received their training in fisheries and statistical work in the State Fisheries Laboratory and they had at that time reached a stage in their training which promised well for the future. All of these assistants with the exception of Mr. WL Scofield have however now left the Commission either for the service of the Federal Bureau of Fisheries or for work at universities. It has become very apparent that the retention of these assistants when fully trained will require a higher standard of salary and greater provision for permanency of employment than at present offers since there is very obviously a shortage of such men in the United States. It has been realized that the training of these men has been an accomplishment which cannot fail to be of importance to the progress of fishery science and it has at the same time been found that the work finished during the period of training has been of high order. It cannot he expected that reports of scientific work accomplished can he produced readily by men who have never before done original research but what is produced ranks high in freshness of viewpoint and thoroughness of treatment. There need therefore be no regrets for the time and effort spent in training these assistants and there has been no hesitation in starting the training of a new group It must at the same time be realized that such a process cannot go on indefinitely. The direction of such work becomes a difficult task and will become increasingly so since it is well-nigh impossible for the director to specialize in all of the several lines to the necessary extent. Sooner or later mature investigators must be retained to make at least a working nucleus It is necessary for a competent fisheries investigator to be trained in a highly technical way. He must have instruction and drill in the classification and anatomy of fishes in the methods of determining age growth, spawning habits, and in the collection of data and in its handling according to modern statistical methods. In addition he must be widely read and well informed in the fisheries work of foreign countries and in knowledge of distribution of life within the ocean. To this end considerable time must be expended by each assistant along these several lines as their relation to the problem upon which he is engaged becomes apparent. There have now been appointed as new members of the staff Mr. Harold H Greene, Mr. WA Selle, and Miss Ruth R Miller who with Mr. Thompson and Mr. WL Scofield resident at Monterey make up the present staff In addition there have been appointed two assistants under a cooperative agreement with the Federal Bureau of Fisheries. The text of this agreement is incorporated in the following letter April 22 1924 . (Appendix To The Journals Op The Senate And Assembly Of The Forty Sixth Session Of The Legislature Of The State Of California Volume V)

Frances Clark came to work for the Department of Fish and Game in 1921. Clark stayed through to 1922, whereupon she went to the University of Michigan to study for her doctorate with Alexander Ruthven and Carl Hubbs as her advisors.

W. L. Scofield stayed on, and his younger brother, Eugene C. Scofield was next to join the Fish and Game’s research regarding the life history of sardines.

During 1924, Mr. W. L. Scofield of the State Fish and Game Commission continued his work on the life history of the sardine. (Annual Report Of The President of Stanford University For The Thirty-Third Academic Year Ending August 31, 1924 Stanford University, California Published By The University 1925.

During 1925 Mr. W. A. Selle of the California Fish and Game Commission has continued work on the life history of the sardine. (Report 1926) In the fall of 1925, Eugene Cottle Scofield, a fisheries research worker of the Division of Fish and Game, and incoming graduate student a Stanford University began a study of striped bass. (1925 Report)

1926 - 1935
In 1926 W. F. Thompson went to Seattle and took over the work for the fisheries investigation with the United States and Japan. In the spring of 1926, Mr. W. L. Scofield, who had been working at Monterey, was transferred to the State Fisheries Laboratory at San Pedro in southern California and became director of the fisheries work in California . (Clark: California Marine Fisheries Investigations, 19 14-39). It was now left up to Will Scofield, and the skeleton crew that remained to carry out the work initiated by Thompson. W. L. Scofield reallocated staff to continue the work related to the sardines in Monterey Bay.

During 1926, the work of the State Fish and Game Commission on the sardine was continued by Messrs. Ralph Classic and C. B. Andrews and were provided at Hopkins Marine Station.(Report 1927) (Stanford University Bulletin Fifth Series, No. 25 February 15, 1927 Annual Report Of The President Of Stanford University For The Thirty-Fifth Academic Year Ending August 31, 1926 Stanford University, California Published By The University 1927)

In 1926, Eugene C. Scofield and an assistant continued their study of the striped bass, under the authority of the State Fish and Game Commission.. (1926-1927).

MACKEREL MARKET IS GOING UPWARD Development of mackerel fishing on Monterey bay into one of the most important phases of the fresh fish -industry is the subject of a report just completed by R. P. Classic, in charge of statistical work at Hopkins marine laboratory tor the state fish and game commission’s department of commercial fisheries, according to word from Monterey. More than 500,000 pounds of mackerel are caught off Monterey each year, according to [Ralph P.] Classic’s report and the catch is worth approximately $15,000 a year to the fishermen, who receive an average price of three cents a pound. Wholesalers deliver the catch for from five to six cents a pound. The mackerel market is centered in the San Francisco bay district, practically the entire catch from Monterey being shipped out fresh in ice. The demand for this food is moderately stable, according to the report. The mackerel industry at San Pedro is growing each year, with a greater demand being made for the fish as other varieties grow scarce. ( San Pedro Daily News, Volume XXIV, Number 53, 6 April 1926)

CALIFORNIA FISHERIES TAKE LEAD FROM FAMOUS EASTERN CENTERS, IS CLAIM LOCAL INDUSTRY TO LEAD WORLD IS PREDICTION MADE BY EXPERT OF UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA: A recent investigation was conducted by the state in the purse seine method of fishing in an attempt to determine whether or not purse seining was depleting certain varieties. Recently a report upon this matter was published by the State Fisheries Laboratory, written by Tage Skogsberg, in which the findings were made known. Altogether, Skogsberg stated, no serious fault could be found with purse seiners. The charge that feeding grounds were destroyed was found groundless, although the investigation' did establish the fact that many undersized fish ate destroyed by this method. “It is a fact not generally known that all marine fisheries are extremely wasteful,” Skogsberg’s report stated, “and that they cannot be carried on under modern market conditions without being so.” ( San Pedro Daily News, Volume XXIV, Number 67, 22 April 1926)

In 1928, an article titled Seasonal Average Length Trends at Monterey of the California Sardine Sardina caerulea appeared in the Division of fish and game of California Fish Bulletin No. 13. The following paragraph quotes from that article: “It is of primary interest, then, to define this trend in the sizes of sardines throughout each season and to compare the trends from year to year. During the past eight years 1919- 1927 the California State Fisheries Laboratory has made a detailed study of the sardine catch at Monterey. These records supply data for lengths of a representative sample of the catch for the entire fishing season and thus reflect changes in size from day to day week to week and month to month” (FISH BULLETIN NO 13 Seasonal Average Length Trends at Monterey of the California Sardine Sardina caerulea was of the CALIFORNIA STATE FISHERIES ABORATORY Terminal California By CARROLL B ANDREWS) (1928)

During 1927 and 1928, the work of the State Fish and Game Commission on the sardine was been continued by Messrs. C. B. Andrews and S. S. Whitehead with an office space provided at Hopkins Marine Station (Report 1927 & Report 1928)

In the summer of 1928, Julius B. Phillips , a young marine biologist fresh out of the University of Washington School of Fisheries, was summoned to Monterey to start work on his new job with the California Department of Fish and Game. The letter stated that the sardine canneries would be opening soon and his presence was needed. Thus began a remarkable 40-year career, all in the canneries, that ended with his retirement in 1968. Shortly after his retirement the DFG closed its office at Hopkins, moving to larger quarters in Monterey.

Also in 1928, nine years after beginning the research to understand the life history of California sardines, California Fish and Game took steps to begin a program to study biological oceanography associated with the seasonal habitat, spawning and early life history of sardines.

In 1928, E. C. Scofield from the California Division of Fish and Game, was assigned the portion of the hydrobiological survey program associated with fisheries; most specifically a study of spawning and early life history of sardines.

Albatross Anchors In Monterey Bay: The fish and game commission's cutter Albatross is now anchored at Monterey and will soon pay a visit here to fish and gather data and marine growth. The boat has been placed at the disposal of Dr. H. B. Bigelow of Harvard university and the Hopkins marine laboratory in Pacific Grove. It is understood that 3igelow is to conduct a survey of water temperature and microscopic marine organisms in the bay. (Santa Cruz Evening News, Volume 42, Number 54, 9 July 1928)

TAGE SKOGSBERG JOINS FACULTY AT
HOPKINS MARINE STATION
In 1920, Tage Skogsberg was awarded his doctorate, from the University of Uppsala, Sweden with the completion of a Ph. D. dissertation titled: Studies on Marine Ostracods I. Cypridinids, Halocyprids and Polycopid. That same year, Skogsberg traveled to Hopkins Marine Station, to investigate the marine Ostracods of Monterey Bay. Remaining in California, Skogsberg worked for a short time as a scientific assistant for the California Fish and Game Commission (1922), then a research assistant for Dr. Kofoid at the University of California, (1923-1925). In 1925, Tage Skogsberg returned to Stanford as an associate professor of zoology, instructing the marine zoology course offered during the summer quarter (1925-26). The following year, Skogsberg was recruited to join the two resident faculty of Hopkins Marine Station, Walter K. Fisher, and Harold Heath.

BAY RESEARCH TO BE MADE: According to the Monterey Peninsula Herald the first steps in a permanent investigation that is expected to disclose invaluable in formation regarding sardines will be taken in Monterey bay in the near future, with Stanford University and the California fish and game commission collaborating in the research. With the arrival on the peninsula Friday, afternoon of Eugene Scofield of the commission, the actual start of work on the sur vey within the next few weeks became assured. Dr. Tage Skogsberg of the Hopkins marine station of Stanford university, located at Pacific Grove, is ready to begin his investigations in connection with the survey. What the survey hopes to disclose are the movements of sardines, the causes of the movements, the abundance, types and movements of the sardines' food supply in the bay, and possibly a location of the spawning grounds of sardines. Where these grounds are located is not known. (Santa Cruz Evening News, Volume 42, Number 107, 10 September 1928)

The following paragraphs were provided by Walter K. Fisher, Director of Hopkins Marine Station for the Annual Report of the President for Stanford University. These reports provided updates as to the activities that had occurred during the past year.

Dr. Henry Bryant Bigelow, acting professor of oceanography and leading American oceanographer, during July conducted an oceanographic survey of Monterey Bay. For this work the State Fish and Game Commission, through Mr. Norman B. Scofield, loaned their steamer "Albacore."(Report 1928)

Essential to the prosecution of this program is the informal co-operation of the California State Fish and Game Commission. It is evident that the results of these investigations, if assiduously carried out, may lead to deductions of far-reaching practical importance. It is intended that one of the boats of the Commission will be put at the disposal of the Station, and that a member of the Commission, Mr. E. C. Scofield, will participate in the survey. (Report 1928)

Mr. E. C. Scofield acted as assistant. A survey of temperatures at various depths and stations was made, and samples of water taken for the determination of oxygen, silica, phosphates, and nitrates. At the same time hauls were made with plankton nets at different depths to obtain a picture of the pelagic and bathypelagic fauna and flora in relation to currents and the physical state of the water. ."(Report 1928)

Dr. Bigelow lectured to a large class on the subject of oceanic biology. During his research on the oceanography of Monterey Bay with the State Fisheries steamer "Albacore," he took many of the students on demonstration cruises to illustrate methods of oceanographic investigation.(Report 1926-1928). Dr. Henry Bryant Bigelow, acting professor of oceanography and leading American oceanographer, during July conducted an oceanographic survey of Monterey Bay. For this work the State Fish and Game Commission, through Mr. Norman B. Scofield, loaned their steamer "Albacore."(Report 1928)

By 1928 things were expanding. Julie Phillips was employed, as were Dick Croker, Don Fry, and Harry Godsil. They used the patrol boats to investigate the local waters and the populations of sardine, albacore, and other fish along the coast. .( Clark: California Marine Fisheries Investigations, 19 14-39)

RESEARCH WORK BEGINS IN BAY The Joint Monterey bay survey referred to In a previous issue of The News, has commenced, and the work Is proceeding under the supervision of Stanford university and the state fish and game commission. Research and survey work is under the direction of Dr. Tage Skogsberg of the Hopkins marine station and Eugene Scofield or the fish and game commission. Material gathered from the bay has been taken to the murine station where Skogsberg will 'conduct his biological studies, and Scofield will carry on his Investigations In behalf of the commission und the commercial fisheries of the state. Miss Lucy Stanford of the marine station will make analysis of the chemical content of the water. The present plan is to gather all forms of marine growth samples brought in 'both the Santa Cruz and Monterey sides of the bay. The launch Steelhead is being used to carry on the dally research work. ( Santa Cruz Evening News, Volume 43, Number 55, 5 January 1929)

Through the combined efforts of the California Fish and Game Commission and the staff of the Station, a hydrobiological investigation of the Monterey Bay is being made. (Report 1929)

COMMISSION MAKING SARDINE SURVEY The California Fish and Game commission is checking up on the sardine. A survey which has been under way for several months is now centering about the Monterey fishing grounds, where it is hoped to learn much of the life habits of the small, silver-sided denizens of the deep. The fish and game officials are seeking to learn something about the location of the sardine spawning grounds. That these mysterious grounds can be found is by no means assured, but the work goes on. Should such grounds be located, the scientists believe that sufficient date could be gathered to make logical estimates of the future supply of sardines and to predict lean years and fat years in the presence of the fish. Joint part in the survey is being taken by Stanford University, although with a different purpose in view. The school is making a biological survey of the waters, while the fish and game commission is only interested in sardines and the commercial fisheries of the state. Eugene Schofield is in charge of the investigation being conducted by the commission and Dr. Tage Skogsberg is the Stanford scientist engaged in the work. Arrival of the cutter Albacore at Monterey bay has widened the range of the work. While the cutter is north for a month, extensive trips to sea are being taken in it, in the hope of locating the spawning grounds. Before the Albacore was available, the work was carried on with the old Steelhead alone. Members of the patrol boat’s crew reported on arriving at Monterey that the craft sailed through a school of sardines between Santa Barbara and Point Conception 60 miles wide. (San Pedro News Pilot, Volume 2, Number 60, 14 May 1929)

WILL STUDY LIFE OF THE SARDINE: Sardine canners and commercial fishing interests should be particularly interested in an investigation which is now being carried on by the State Division of Fish and Game, through its Bureau of, Commercial Fisheries, in conjunction with the Hopkins Marine Station at Stanford University, located at Pacific Grove on Monterey Bay.

The Investigation, which is termed a hydrobiological survey of Monterey Bay, has been underway for about a year and will be continued for at least another year, when it is expected the work' will be taken over and continued as part of the program of a larger and endowed hydrographic survey of the Pacific. The part of this survey which is important to the fisheries interests of the state is that the knowledge acquired about currents, temperatures and chemical changes in the sea water, as well as the fluctuation in abundance of the minute animal and plant life, termed plankton, Will throw light on the problems of the very important sardine fisheries. One jot the direct objects of the work is to learn the cause of the sudden appearance and as sudden disappearance of sardines, as well as to find out when and where sardines spawn, what the migrations of the adult sardines are and what the extent of the drift of the eggs and young fish in the currents. The most interesting thing about this particular phase of the investigation is the belief of the investigators that by observing the comparative success of each year’s spawning, they will get a good idea, of the abundance of each incoming year f Class, so that it should be possible to predict what the abundance of the sizes used in canning will be for several years in advance. , Already the eggs and larvae of the sardines have been discovered and this is expected to lead to a better understanding of the areas in the open sea where sardines spawn, and of the spawning migrations of the adults. It is also hoped that light will be thrown on the interesting question of whether excessive fishing at Monterey has any effect on the supply of sardines at San Pedro, or vice versa.( Blade Tribune, 21 June 1929)

Thompson had indicated that there was some relation between albacore catch and the
temperatures of the water. Gene Scofield, a young son of N.B., was doing work with the patrol boat Bluefin and some of the smaller boats, and had found and identified sardine eggs and larvae. ( Clark: California Marine Fisheries Investigations, 19 14-39)

A new phase of the cooperative investigation of the activities, food range and probable future supply of sardines, now being conducted by the division of fish and game and Stanford university, opened today with the arrival of the fish and game patrol boat Albacore at Monterey for a month's stay in the vicinity of -Monterey bay. This morning the patrol boat made the first of a series of trips to sea, the principal object of which will be to gather data on the probable location of spawning grounds of the sardine and to secure information on the early life of the fish which furnish the raw material for the largest single unit of California’s vast fishing industry (Santa Cruz Evening News, Volume 43, Number 132, 5 April 1929)

Bluefin, a new patrol boat, brought into work in spring 1930, carried a crew of five, to support scientists involved in research.

NOTES According to the Monterey Peninsula-Herald a discovery of exceptional interest to Monterey's great sardine industry was revealed today in reports that sardine eggs have been found in Monterey bay by Dr. Tage Skogsberg of the Hopkins marine station, assisted by Rolf Bolin of the same institution. The discovery, it is learned, was recently made while the scientists were making their regular bi-weekly trip aboard the fish and game commission boat Steelhead, captained by Mathews. Inasmuch as scientists have contended that once sardine spawning beds can be located. It may be possible to draw deductions as to future supplies and movement of the fish, and thereby furnish the commercial fishing industry with valuable information, the discovery that sardines actually spawn in Monterey bay Is regarded as important. The discovery, furthermore, bears out the contention of canners that the fish actually lay their eggs in local waters. Meanwhile Dr. Skogsberg will continue dragging for eggs to determine whether spawning occurs regularly throughout the season at Monterey. (WATERFRONT NOTES: Santa Cruz Evening News, Volume 46, Number 4, 5 May 1930)

EARLY LIFE HISTORY STUDIES OF THE SARDINE: The hydrobiological survey of Monterey Bay, a cooperative enterprise entered into by the Division of Fish and Game and the Hopkins Marine Station of Stanford University, has been continued since January, 1929. A full description of this survey is to be found in the January issue of California Fish and Game for the year 1930. Since that time much work has been done on the complex changes which take place in the waters of the bay. The knowledge thus gained will give us an understanding of the changes in fish population in the bay. Dr. Tage Skogsberg of the Hopkins Marine Station is in charge of the survey. Eugene C. Scofield, a fisheries research worker of the Division of Fish and Game, is assisting and is in charge of the part of the program which has to do with the study of the spawning of the sardine and its early life history. The ultimate aim of this part of the sardine investigations being carried on by the Division of Fish and Game is to learn why, on occasional years, the spawning of the sardines is so successful that the fish resulting greatly outnumber the other sardine age or year groups. The group resulting from such a successful spawning is called a dominant year group.

It is intended that these investigations will establish a basis of estimating the relative success or failure of each year class two or three years before it enters -the commercial catch. Such a knowledge, which will be very valuable to the fisheries industry, it is reasonably sure can be obtained through the determination of the relative abundance from year to year of the very young sardines, or larvae, as they are called. This relative abundance is to be established by the employment of specially constructed plankton nets operated quantitatively at key stations throughout the sardine spawning and nursery grounds. Because of the magnitude of the problem, the investigations of the past years have been devoted to three major studies: (1) The determination of the spawning area, (2) defining the area of maximum spawning, and (3) establishing the constancy of these two areas from year to year. Related secondary problems, such as the development of the eggs, also the food, drift and rate of growth of the larvae, were carefully considered, and all were studied whenever material was available. In the pursuit of these major problems, approximately 15,000 miles of station lines were run, covering an area of about 252,000 square miles of ocean. The region covered lies between Eureka on the north and Cape San Lucas, Baja California, on the south. Between Eureka and San Diego, the entire body of water out to 400 miles was covered by station lines. In the remainder of the region visited, the exploratory work was confined to the proximity of the coast. As a result of the intensive work of these past four years (1929 to 1932), it is felt that the three major problems, as stated, are now generally understood. With the exception of a few details, 1933 will mark the beginning of an actual count of the relative abundance of sardine larvae, these data to be used in predicting the fluctuations in abundance of commercial sizes. A bulletin covering these preliminary findings is now ready for printing and should be issued during 1933. This publication covers three main results : (1) Spawning region. The major spawning area is a comparatively small region approximately 200 miles in diameter. From the United States-Mexican international boundary to Point Conception and offshore to 200 miles are the bounds of this limited area. The California sardine ranges for 2000 miles up and down the Pacific coast between southern Alaska and the Gulf of Lower California. They have never been seen or known to occur further than 200 miles from land. The fact that the great bulk of these sardines migrate each year to a centralized area for the purpose of spawning is perhaps the most important discovery of this investigation. (2) Time of spawning. The sardine eggs are found in the open ocean in small numbers during February. They steadily increase in numbers until April and May when they occur in greatest abundance. By August the spawn has about disappeared. (3) Drift of the larvae. The sardine eggs hatch in three days. As small larvae they are completely helpless and subject to drift. As a result of currents, the major portion of these larvae are set to the south and finally inshore along the coast of Baja California and
southern California. Here is situated, then, the nursery grounds of the young sardine which are commonly used as hail and as "quarter oils" for packing. THIRTY-SECOND BIENNIAL REPORT)

The Bluefin, research and patrol boat of the California fish and game commission, regularly stationed at the local port, has been on temporary duty recently at Monterey. She is being used on a bio-hydrographical survey now being conducted jointly by the state bureau of commercial fisheries and the Hopkins marine laboratory of Stanford University. (BLUEFIN ON SURVEY, San Pedro News Pilot, Volume 3, Number 251, 26 December 1930)

EXPERTS FIND FISH SPAWNING FARTHER SOUTH Important Discoveries Are Revealed With Return of Biologists: Several important discoveries of value to the commercial fishing industry were made by a party of fisheries biologists who returned to the harbor over the week-end. The trip was made down the Mexican coast aboard the research and patrol boat Bluefin of the California state Department of fish and game. : SPAWNING UNDER WAY Sardines were found to spawn as far south as Cedros Island, or approximately 300 miles further down the coast than they had been previously observed. Spawning had already taken place near Cedros, with the little fish appearing about the size of those found near San Diego in July of each year. This would Indicate that the season is considerably earlier each year in southern latitudes. Adult sardines were found as far south as Magdalena bay, where small mackerel were also found. ROCK COD LOCATED Rock cod were observed 100 miles further south than they had been previously found. They were seen in the vicinity of Thetis bank, 185 miles north of Cape San Lucas. The launch went into the Gulf of California as far north as La Paz. Capt. Walter Engelke is in command of the Bluefin, which left here on March 30 and returned last Saturday. Fisheries biologists who made the trip to make scientific observations included D. H. Fry, H. C. Godsil and E. C. Scofield of the staff of the California bureau of commercial fisheries; and J. H. Wales of the Hopkins marine laboratory of Stanford university. Several shorter trips are contemplated for the summer months. (San Pedro News Pilot, Volume 4, Number 39, 20 April 1931)

In 1931 the sport-fish catch records were started. The Bluefin, the patrol boat that did much of the first oceanographic work, had explored California and Mexican waters. ( Clark: California Marine Fisheries Investigations, 19 14-39)

According to the Californian May 21, 1931 page 10) the Bluefin , 86 feet in length and designed for long trips at sea, had completed a trip 300 miles south of San Diego, what was considered the southern end of the sardine spawning ground. The Bluefin had covered 2400 miles on the trip. The next plans were for the boat to go at least 150 miles the section of the coast north of San Francisco. The Bluefin was to continue its zigzag course in these waters persuing their study of sardine spawning grounds.

T. W. Vaughn : Report of the Committee on Submarine Configuration and Oceanic Circulation, 1931. 1932. (National Research Council, Washington) April 25, 1931- Hopkins Marine Station by Tage Skogsberg. “Perhaps the most important of these investigations, from an economic point of view, is the one carried out by Mr. E. C. Scofield of the California Fish and Game Commission. Mr. Scofield made extensive cruises along the California coast and in the course of these numerous readings of surface temperatures were made.”

Difficulties in sampling resulted from the limited seaworthiness of the cutter, Steelhead. More frequent sampling was accomplished via times a row boat at a location just offshore from Hopkins Marine Station.

BLUEFIN PATROL ENDS 2000-MILE SURVEY :Capt. Waller Engelke and E. C. Scofield, marine biologist, are back in port after making a cruise of nearly 2000 miles aboard the California fisheries patrol boat Bluefin. They were gone two weeks, during which time a survey of the sardine banks off the California coast was made. Scofield reported finding sardine eggs and larvae 300 miles off shore opposite Eureka. The results of his trip and specimens he collected are now being studied in the California state fisheries laboratory on Terminal Island. (San Pedro News Pilot, Volume 4, Number 64, 19 May 1931. PAGE 11)

BLUEFIN RETURNS FROM RESEARCH TRIP. The Bluefln, the California fish and game commission's new fisheries patrol boat, returned to port late yesterday following a cruise to the north, which began early in the week. Eugene C. Scofield, marine biologist with the state bureau of commercial fisheries, made the trip and gathered valuable Information concerning the life habits of sardines. Samples of sardine larvae were taken near Santa Barbara and Gaviota. En route back the Bluefin visited the waters surrounding Santa Cruz and Santa Barbara islands. Capt. Walter Engelke is In command of the patrol boat. ( San Pedro News Pilot, Volume 4, Number 116, 18 July 1931)

BLUEFIN RETURNS The California fish and game commission’s patrol boat Bluefin was back in port today after making a two-day cruise to waters off Santa Catalina and San Clemente Islands. E. C. Scofield, marine biologist who is making a survey of the California sardine fisheries, and S. S. Whitehead, who is studying the life habits and supply of white sea bass, were aboard. The Bluefin is commanded by Capt. Walter Engelke. (San Pedro News Pilot, Volume 4, Number 120, 23 July 1931)

With the aid of Mr. N. B. Scofield of the State Fish and Game Commission a bill was introduced at the last meeting of the Legislature to create a marine-life refuge of the Station point and 1,000 feet seawards. This bill became a law August 14, 1931. The reservation created is known as the Hopkins Marine Life Refuge and is intended to conserve and protect the shore and shallow-water life which has suffered greatly from depredation during the past ten years

J. B. Phillips continued work on the Sardine Program under the auspices of the California Fish and Game Commission. This included seasonal sampling of the commercial sardine catch at Monterey and osteological studies of the sardine. He also worked on the Mackerel Program with gonad maturity studies and first-year otolith readings.(1931)

SCOFIELD TRANSFERS RESEARCH TO NORTH: Eugene C. Scofield, . with the marine biological staff of the California state fisheries laboratory on Terminal Island, for the past year, has transferred his activities, to the Hopkins marine laboratory near Monterey for the next few months. He is making an exhaustive study of the California sardine, a fish of great importance in the state’s vast seafood canning industry (San Pedro News Pilot, Volume 5, Number 117, 20 July 1932)

Offshore spawning limits of the sardine, a fish of great importance in California’s vast seafood canning industry, were rather definitely determined last week by an expedition sent to sea by the California division of fish and game. The patrol and research boat Bluefin, carrying Eugene C. Scofield and H. C. Godsil, marine biologists for the bureau of commercial fisheries, returned to the local harbor yesterday after having cruised some 1600 miles during the last eight days. Using their big finely meshed plankton net, the biologists were able to collect sardine eggs and larvae as far out as 350 miles west of San Pedro. They cruised 200 miles further west but found no signs of sardine spawning beyond the 350 miles point. On previous expeditions, the northern limits of sardine spawning have been found to be approximately off Point Concepcion, while the southern limits appear to be about half way down the coast of Lower California. Variations occur in different seasons. After going due west 550 miles, early last week, the Bluefin was turned south for 300 miles and then in an easterly direction back to within 100 miles of the Mexican coast, from which point the return to port was made. Scofield reported a good deal of rough weather. On the cruise he saw at least 100 fur seals and one enormous school of porpoise. Appearance of the fur seals this far south from Alaskan waters is not unprecedented, but rare in recent years. One of the porpoise was harpooned and Its head is being sent to the Hopkins marine laboratory at Pacific Grove for classification. The sardine specimens brought in by the Bluefin party are now being studied in detail at the California state fisheries laboratory on Terminal Island. (San Pedro News Pilot, Volume 5, Number 38, 19 April 1932)

SARDINES SMALL BUT NUMEROUS IN PACIFIC WATERS SAN PEDRO. April 26. (A>| Marketable sardines, a fish of some importance in California's seafood canning industry, flourish in a thousand miles of ocean water up and down this coast, E. C. Scofield, marine biologist, said on his recent return from a 1,600 mile cruise for the state division of fish and game. Scofield, who, with 13, C. Godsil, another marine biologist, inquired into the private lives of the fish moat persons recognize embalmed in oil or mustard covered the 1,600 miles in eight days and found the off-shore spawning limits were 350 miles west. Find Schools 330 Mill's West Using a finely meshed Plankton net, the biologists, who made the cruise in the research boat Bluefin, collected sardine eggs and larvaeas far out as 350 miles west of here, hut found none 200 miles further west. On previous expeditions, Scofield said he found the northern limits of sardine spawning were near Point Conception, while the southern limits appeared to be about halfway down the coast of Baja California. Variations occur, he said, in different seasons, but traces of sardine spawning - were found over a course of 1,000 miles of water. Stale to Study Finds Scofield reported much rough weather. On the cruise he saw at least 100 fur seals and one large school of porpoise. Appearance of fur seals this far south from Alaskan waters is not unprecedented, he said, but rare in recent years. One of the porpoise was harpooned and its head was sent to the Hopkins Marine laboratory at Pacific Grove for classification. Sardine specimens brought in by Scocfield are being studied at the California state fisheries laboratory on Terminal Island. The Hluefin traveled 550 miles due west and then turned south for 350 miles, thence in an easterly direction back tp within 100 miles of the Mexican coast. (Calexico Chronicle, Volume XXVIII, Number 224, 26 April 1932)

IT'S AN ILL WIND: Professor G. E. MacGinitie of the Hopkins Marine Station of Stanford University, an interesting institution located at the other side of the bay, makes the statement that the economic depression, with its disastrous effect upon the principal markets for canned sardines and the resulting decrease in production by the Monterey fish canneries, has served to at least temporary stay the depletion of the sardine supply. The professor, who happens to be connected with the one institution on the coast most likely to have accurate information in regard to the subject and is himself a recognized authority upon such matters, says that the wholesale canning and reduction operations in the Monterey canneries during the "peak" years of 1928 and 1929 threatened a very serious depletion of the fish supply. The depression, however, has checked this depletion. Truly it is an ill wind that blows nobody good. The Monterey fish industry, in times of plenty, was unable to organize itself to act in the common interest and conserve the fish supply because of the greed of individual members for immediate profit, with an attitude of indifference toward the future. Now that adversity has come, the conservation, so sorely needed, is being unwittingly provided. If only measures may be taken while the present condition prevails to prevent the threat of depletion in the future, all may yet be well with this great natural resource of the state.( Santa Cruz Sentinel, Volume 85, Number 148, 21 June 1932).

SCOFIELD TRANSFERS RESEARCH TO NORTH: Eugene C. Scofield, . with the marine biological staff of the California state fisheries laboratory on Terminal Island, for the past year, has transferred his activities, to the Hopkins marine laboratory near Monterey for the next few months. He is making an exhaustive study of the California sardine, a fish of great importance in the state’s vast seafood canning industry. (San Pedro News Pilot, Volume 5, Number 117, 20 July 1932)

Mr. J. B. Phillips continued work on the Sardine Program under the auspices of the California Fish and Game Commission. This included seasonal sampling of the commercial sardine catch at Monterey and osteological studies of the sardine. He also worked on the Mackerel Program with gonad maturity studies and first-year otolith readings. (Report 1932)

Mr. J. B. Phillips continued work on the sardine program under the auspices of the Division of Fish and Game of California. This included seasonal sampling of the commercial sardine catch at Monterey and osteological studies of the sardine. He also commenced work on the albacore program at Monterey, preliminary work of which consisted of offshore scouting. He also made summary surveys of minor fisheries of importance, in and off Monterey Bay, at various times.(Report 1933)

Mr. J. B. Phillips of the State Fish and Game Commission, who has been stationed at the Hopkins Marine Station since 1929, continued his study of the fluctuations in the supply of sardines in the Monterey region. Sampling of the commercial catch is carried on during the season, the object being to detect signs of a lessening of the supply; and also to suggest remedial means for conservation for the purpose of appropriate legislation. During the year Mr. Phillips has also carried on trammel net experiments in Monterey Bay to determine the advisability of allowing the use of these nets for the capture of flatfish. (1934 Report)

Donald Fry Returns From Research Trip “Donald H. Fry jr., marine biologist with the California state fisheries laboratory on Terminal Island, is back In his office following a week’s research trip up the California coast as far as Pescadero creek, on the San Francisco peninsula. The cruise, made on the fisheries patrol boat Bluefin, is part of the research program now being carried on to study the life habits of sardines and mackerel, both important seafood fish found in California waters. Fry brought back a large amount of material which is now being studied at the laboratory. (San Pedro News Pilot, Volume 8, Number 82, 12 June 1935)

1935-1945

The California Department of Fish and Game and Scripps Institution of Oceanography had released drift bottles off southern California to learn something about the surface drifts in the area. ( Clark: California Marine Fisheries Investigations, 19 14-39)

NOTES GATHERED ON WATERFRONT: The fish and game patrol boat Bluefin, which was in the bay last week, was on a scientific research cruise. Her first local job was to take Dr. Phelps of Hopkins Marine station on a hydrobiological cruise of 250 miles to gather data for work being done on sardines. Following that chore, the boat also took G. H. Clark north for continued research work on paranzella nets, commonly called drag nets or trawls. He has been at this study for several years. (Santa Cruz Sentinel, Volume 94, Number 50, 28 August 1936)

The research men of the Division of Fish and Game at Monterey have recovered two more sardine tags of the lot which were placed , aboard fish near san pedro last spring. The scientists are happy about this because it shows that their method of checking the movements of the schools of sardines is workable. Johin Jannsen, who is at Monterey to direct the tagging of sardines from that port, will now attack his job with all the more zest and enthusiasm, and J. B. Phillips, who makes the daily rounds of the canneries to pick up possibly recovered tags, is enjoying the "thrill of the chase" more than before. NOTES GATHERED ON WATERFRONT: Santa Cruz Sentinel, Volume 94, Number 68, 18 September 1936.

FISH PATROL SIHT SHIFTED Bluefin Now Operating Out of S. F.; Two Smaller Craft Here. Transferred from Southern California waters, the 60-foot patrol boat Bluefin of the California state division of fish and game is now operating for the winter out of San Francisco Bay. Her place in the south has been taken by the two smaller but faster boats Broadbill and Yellowtail. These boats, manned by deputy fish and game commissioners, tour about the various fishing banks off the local coast to enforce state laws regarding licenses for both commercial and sports fishermen; the operation of seines and nets and the catching of seafood varieties in season. The Bluefin is slated to be returned to the San Pedro area next spring, where she will again engage in enforcement and also be used for research work by marine biologists of the California state fisheries laboratory on Terminal Island. ( San Pedro News Pilot, Volume 9, Number 226, 24 November 1936)

The Fish and Game patrol boat Albacore has been working out of Monterey for the past week after a tour of duty in San Francisco. In addition to regular police work she has made the station runs for the hydrobiological survey of Hopkins Marine Station NOTES GAHTERED ON THE WATERFRONT ( Santa Cruz Sentinel, Volume 94, Number 127, 26 November 1936)

It was not until 1936 that Scripps Institution of Oceanography developed the first curriculum in oceanography in the United States. In Spring of 1937, Sverdrup arranged to use the California Fish and Game Commission’s shop , the Bluefin, to attempt a first systematic study of the ocean off the coast in order to understand the conditions at the time the sardines spawned. Scripps personnel made three cruises during the spring of 1937 to the same locations.

The San Pedro News Pilot, August 4, 1937 reported of the previous release of 6,000 wine bottles in the earliest attempts to understand the California currents

150 Test Bottles Found, Returned Sardine Larvae Drift Mostly Southerly: More than 150 bottles have been returned to the Terminal Island office of the California fish and game division in the big current test being made in waters off California. These are part of the 6,000 wine bottles released from the fisheries patrol boat Bluefin last spring. The test on drifts and currents is being conducted by the state fish and game division, with the cooperation of Scripps Institute of Oceanography. Data recorded will be of particular value in the study of the California sardine, a fish of vast commercial importance, and one which some authorities declare is apt to become very scarce because of intensive fishing. Southern California waters, from San Luis Obispo county to San Diego, are known to be the principal spawning grounds of the sardine, and the fish eggs and larvae are subject to the drifts and currents in the area. The 6,000 wine bottles which were placed in the sea last March, May and June each carry papers bearing numbers, postal cards and a brief explanation of the purpose of the drift test. Persons finding the bottles and their papers, are asked to mail them into the fish and game office on Terminal Island, giving the date and place where the bottles were found. From the number on the cards, research staff members can determine where the bottles were released. Fishermen, boatmen and bathers have been finding the bottles. One released off Port San Luis was recovered in the vicinity of Guadalupe Island, Mexico, having drifted approximately 400 miles in 38 days. In general the evidence to date points to a southerly movement, although there is occasional evidence to show some water movements in a northerly direction. ( San Pedro News Pilot, Volume 10, Number 130, 4 August 1937)

Mr. J. B. Phillips, Senior Fisheries Researcher, California Division of Fish and Game, continued his work in connection with the commercial marine fishes of the state. Much of his time has been devoted to the sardine program, as in the past. However, other fisheries have been studied as time has permitted. (Report 1937)

Recently, a study of the Scorpaenidae (rockfishes and scorpionfishes) has been inaugurated in co-operation with Dr. Rolf L. Bolin. This large family constitute one of California's most important market fishes, but our knowledge concerning them is limited. (Report 1937)

During the past year, Mr. Phillips has written articles on rockfishes, sculpin and cabezone, crabs, abalone, and squid for publications of the Division of Fish and Game of California. He has completed Fish Bulletin Number 50, which is now in press, entitled The Size of Sardines in the Different Areas of the Monterey and San Pedro Regions. (Report 1937).

As a guest of the California Division of Fish and Game, Dr. Bolin accompanied the new fisheries research vessel "N. B. Scofield" on her first scientific cruise along the Pacific Coast of Mexico and Central America. This was a two months' expedition for the purpose of investigating the commercially important tuna and skipjack, but opportunity was provided for making a large and varied collection of other fishes, including bathypelagic types. After being studied, this collection is to be deposited in the Natural History Museum of Stanford University. (Report 1939).

J. B. Phillips, of the Division of Fish and Game of California, continued his headquarters at the Hopkins Marine Station, as a member of the California Fisheries Laboratory. Mr. Phillips was relieved of his duties in connection with the periodic examination of the commercial sardine catch in the Monterey region, by Robert D. Byers, so that he could concentrate on the problem of ascertaining the nursery grounds and the abundance of young sardines of the year, along the California and Lower California coasts. Exploratory work on this problem was done during September-December, 1938,and the territory between Pt. Reyes, California, and Magdalena Bay, Lower California, was examined, aboard State Fish and Game boats. (Report 1939)

Mr. Phillips also continued his work on the Rockfish (Scorpaenidae) in co-operation with Dr. Rolf L. Bolin. Work has been started on a handbook of the Rockfishes of California, to be illustrated with photographs of the different species and gross descriptions, for popular use. Articles published by Mr. Phillips during the year include: "The Market Crab of California and Its Close Relatives," California Fish and Game (Quarterly), Division of Fish and Game of California; "Arrival of Black Sea Brant in Lower California in 1938," Ibid.; "The Rockfish of the Monterey Wholesale Fish Markets," Ibid. (Report 1939)

R. D. Byers, newest member of the California State Fisheries Laboratory staff with headquarters at the Hopkins Marine Station, continued the examination of the commercial sardine cannery catch in the Monterey region during the past season, for the purpose of detecting depletion and gathering data for age determination of California's most important fishery resource. This work included weekly testing of the magnets used in tag recoveries to ascertain their efficiency. A study of the fishing methods, and gear used in the newly developed shark fishery was made, as well as the methods now used commercially to extract the shark liver oil which is valuable medicinally for its vitamins and as a fortifier of other oils used for stock and poultry feeding. This report is to be published later. The balance of the year was spent assisting with the young flatfish field work and the tuna field work, aboard the State Fish and Game boats. (Report 1939)

Notes published during the past year include: "Seattle Halibut Boats Catch Monterey Sharks," California Fish and Game (Quarterly), Division of Fish and Game of California; "Monterey Purse Seiners Extend Fishing Area," Ibid. (Report 1939)

Fish and Game Boat Believed Total Loss: The 86-foot state fish and game survey boat Bluefln, representing an investment of more than $lOO,000, today was believed a total loss, having sunk last night in deep water off San Diego. The Bluefin’s hull was ripped open early yesterday when it struck a reef near the Coronado Islands, in a heavy fog. It sank off Point Loma while nearing San Diego in tow of a commercial tug. The nine men aboard at the time of the accident were taken off by coast guard patrol boat 442, which responded to the Bluefin’s distress call. The Bluefin left San Pedro Saturday afternoon for a month’s cruise in Mexican waters to tag mackerel for the purpose of studying the migration of the species. > Reports were that the helmsmen observed a breaker near the bow and put the helm hard over and reversed the engines in an effort to clear the reef. The distress call was sent out when the boat began taking water. The tug, the Palomar of San Diego, cut the boat free when she began sinking. Master of the Bluefin was Capt. Walter Ingelke of Long Beach. Aboard with him were Donald Fry, Pasadena, and Philip Roedel, Los Angeles, laboratory research men employed by the division of fish and game. Others aboard were Robert Mills, San Francisco; Paul Richmond and Peter Stockland, Long Beach; Robert McDonald, San Diego; Bert Scrlmsher, Coronado, and Clarence Krone, Los Angeles. The Bluefin was built in 1930, costing $8O,OOO without the special equipment installed in her by the division of fish and game. ( San Pedro News Pilot, Volume 12, Number 215, 13 November 1939)

Mr. J. B. Phillips, Division of Fish and Game, resident at the Hopkins Marine Station, continued his program for the investigation of the sardine. His present chief problem is to attempt to determine the nursery grounds and the relative abundance of young sardines of the year along the California and Lower California coasts. Two annual surveys have already been made relating to this problem. An investigation of the rockfish fishery is also being continued as a secondary problem. A completed report upon the osteology of the sardine (Sardinops caerulea) is now in press. (1939 - Report 1940)

In 1935 the tagging of tuna was started, again under the direction of Harry Godsil.

Mr. J. B. Phillips, a member of the California State Fisheries Laboratory (Division of Fish and Game), continued his studies in connection with the California sardine program. These studies include periodic examination of the commercial catch in the Monterey region. Aside from this, Mr. Phillips commenced a study of the commercial rockfish fishery for this region. The rockfish group has been of great importance in the fresh-fish markets, for many years. Some time was also spent in co-operation with other studies of the Laboratory, such as tagging of sardines and mackerel, magnetic recovery of tags, and scouting for sardine and mackerel eggs in Mexican waters (Report 1938)