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IT'S A FISHY BUSINESS
Man's,Tampering Gave Us the Salton
Sea. Now We're Stuck With It and
We're Tampering Again, Trying
to Make it an Asset
By HAL MASSON
On March 26th this year a caravan bearing California
license plates crossed the Mexican border at Calexico and
traveled south tYlrough 135 miles of the desolation that is
HAUUNG IN THE FISH AT SALTON SEA
Baja California to arrive at the little fishing village of San
Felipe on tb, e Gulf. In the caravan were two tank trucks (1.500
gal|ons and 500 gallons capac-
ity); ajeep truck with 150 gallon
tnk plus a boat trailer, a pick-
up truck loaded with nets, food
anti a skiff; and a passenger
car towing a trailer.
Tile idea was an effort on the
part of the California Division
of Fish and Game to turn our
little landlocked ocean into a
slrtsfishing center.. Comprising
the exlmdition were both marine
and freshwater fisheries biolo-
gists. Their jobwas to catch and
select ocean fish which might
survive ill the Salton Sea.
l.:ver since white men first
realized that a part of the Im-
perial VaLley was more than 240
feet below the level of the ocean,
they've wondered what to do
with it.
In 1905 and 1907 tle Colorado
Rivet" m()k,gnatters out of man's
puny hands, smashed through
the irrigation headgates in two
wild ralnpages and poured into
this sub-sea-level basin. Before
the river was again in bounds
it had create(l the Salton Sea 30
miles long ant1 12 miles wide.
.Farms and farmers multiplied
in tile imperial VMley and towns
grew. to the size of Brawley and
El Centro. Al(irmists proclaimed
that one grand shuffle of the
unstable earth's cr us t couhl
crack open the 50-foot rock wall
to tile south and the Gulf would
roll nortlt several hundred miles.
Less excitable authorities stated
the lmSsibility was too remote
to be consittered and the people
of the valley regard it with
apathy. But they are not apa-
thetic about that great sheet of
shallow water that is now part
of their landscape. Nothing that
big should be idle.
An Augle for Anglers
The angler today who catches
a ten-inch trout in Yosemite or
Sequoia exhibits it protttlly; there
are so very few. Planted finger-
lings are caught in limits before
they grow beyond 6"or 7 thebes.
.0nly the stout woodsmen who
pack deel) into the ttigh ierras
find the kind of fishing that used
to lie .close at hand.
On the fee of it, the problem
of creating new fishing ground
should be sinll)te. Catch a few
fish, dump them into the Salton
Sea, keep anglers out and let the
fish multiply. It isn't that sim-
ple. Most fish, especially game
fish, are cannit)als. Great num-
bers of albacore or corbina, for
instance, would starve to death
in the Salton Sea, sin(e the only
thing to eat would be each
other, and there's an end to that
kind of cycle.
The only method is to establish
a food chain such as exists in all
live waters. First the plankton
microscopic plants and ani-
mals that can live on such food
as reaches the water from the
land in heavy rains, and the in-
lt.sthmas00lere-r-00 coming 00ilt of rivers.
Now Sleeps Like Baby
"A few months ago I spent most ,of
the night gasping for breath unlil I
thought I couldn't stand it a minute
longer, A druggist friend recommended
B.T. Formula and now I sleep like a
baby." That is what one :Bm-lingame
man wrote regarding B.T. Formula's
miraetdous relief of Asthma spasms,
EVel'y day, scores of Athma sufferers
ace fielding in B.T. Formula, a doctor's
I'-scription. the freedom from fear of
¢on.tantly recurring attacks of Asthma.
IB.T, Formula is available at your local
drug store or direct from B.T. Products
Co,, 110 Burlingame Ave,, Burlingame,
Calif.
PAGE 6=MAGAZIhE CALIFORNIA
Next in
the clmin tire the smaller fishes
such as anchovies, sardines, etc.,
which eat the plankton. Since
most fish consume about 5 to 10
times theiP, own weight of food in
a year, there has to be a vast
rmmber of these-smaller fish
present before game fish find
enough to eat.
The l"il'st Tenants
There are ot her problems.
Some fresh water fish will not
survive in salt water, and vice
versa. It i: probable that when
the Colorado River broke into
tlle Salton Sea every f(,rm of lifo
in the ('olorado wil introdu(.etl
into the new sell. ll,ls. ¢'Mfih,
mullet and carl) were iti(.overt:d
in the new water, but all hut the
' l.ardy mullet cetied to exist
when the water ahsorl)ed tile
salt from the ant'iel/t ocean bell.
The Salton Sea happells to have
almost the itlentical salinity as
tile ocean different salts, t)ut ill
tlne same proportion. Each year
the New and the Alamo Riw'rg
bring in fresh salts dissolved in
their course across tle lantl.
Since the sea has no outlet ex-
cept t h r o u g h its tremendous
evaporation, the salts remain to
increase the salinity. This, how-
ever, is not an immediate prob-
lem, since scientists estimate
that it will be perhaps 101 years
before the water will go beyond
the tolerance of ocean fish.
A greater problem is tempera-
ture. As might be expected with
such a large shallow body of
water in a desert climate, the
temperature varies considerably
from s u mm e r to winter. A
thermometer placed at ten feet
off Desert Beach in 1936 gave a
minimum reading of 51 degrees
during December and a maxi-
mum of 96 degrees during July.
This far exceeds the normal
range of o c e a n temperatures,
and itls the principal factor
which may prohibit the success-
ful establishment of m a r i n e
fishes. Adult fish may well live
out their life spans, but such
extremes may kill off most of
the embryo young.
Trial and Error
Early trial-and-error plantings
were not very encouraging. In
1929 striped bass were brought
in from the San Francisco Bay
area. Not one has been seen
since. A 3'eat" later about 50
mudsuckers w e re planted, to-
gether with 100 ghost shrimp.
Birds%,ere reported to have de-
voured the shrimp and there has
been no sign that ally of this
planting survived.
In 1948 an attempt ito get an-
chovettas was made by the Bu-
reau of Fish Conservation, with
permission of the Mexican Gov-
ernment. None were found, but
the plane left Guaymas with
about 2000 anchovies, only 43 of
which survived the trip. All of
them had lost many scales, and
it is doubtful if any of them sur-
vived. Two months later 1000
anehovettas were t a k e n hy a
tuna clipper and crried in bait
tanks several weeRs before at'-
riving in San Diego. They
reached the Salton Sea by tank
truck, but arrived in poor condi-
tion. Little is known of them,
either.
'o Dead Ones
e In 1950 a party of seven men
from the Bureau of Marine Fish-
eries and Fish Conservation
seined the beach near San
Felipe, Baja California. Five
thousand anchovettas and a va-
riety of mixed game fishes, crabs
and squid reached the Salton Sea
(Continuedon Page 7)
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THE CATCH IS IN
Each year, the Hollywood Ba-
zaar issues a list of the "Golden
Dozen" gifts which they predict
will outsell all other items for
Christmas. Here they are, and
let us see how correct they will
be this year: 1, an electric
creaser fbr trousers; 2, the new
lint lifter for removing lint, hair
and dust from clothing, suede or
fur; 3, butcher's linen place
mats for your luncheon table; 4,
one stroke Venetian blind clean-
er in fine gift pack; 5, a sliding
cup rack; 6, expanding trivet hot
plate platform; 7, expanding tie
holder; 8, electric sifter for
flour; 9, a cake decorator set
with full directions; 10, tala
pastry cutter set; 11, lemon serv-
er set for fish, salads, seafoods
and 12, transparent cookie press
with six different patterns! You
will see-these items featured by
your local stores from the price
range of one dollar up to four,
attractively packed in gift style.
The. manufacturers are betting
on you buying these this Christ-
mas, so look them over! ... You
will be pleased with the new
plastic handbags, with the safety
lock with the secret combination.
•.. Polo shirt waists, with the
sporting french full cuffs, will
be a nmst-have for your spring
wardrobe .... Tweed shorties,
the new smart version of the
pedal pushers, will be most pop-
ular next summer . . . Queen
Anne coats with the large bone
buttons . . . The happiest news
from the cosmetic world will be
the new product that will literal-
ly wash your wrinkles away!
Criswell Answers
Dear Criswell :
Should I move rny father's bty from
its present resting place to the new ceme-
tery? Norms 3.
My dear Norma':
1Nip, yOUr father would be happier where
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Call or write foe your copy today,
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I I I I I
he ts now near his birthplace.
Dear Criswell :
How st will I marry this
now seeing? Roe]e, '.
My dear Rose:
YOU will marry him right after
vorce is fioal next lltottth,
Dear Criawell :
Will I I able to unload this
before too long? I accepted it in
of a debt and 110 'le waats
Roger E.
My dear Roger:
YOU will ll this tO sbme
the community for a gcd price
Will handle this yourself, DO not
this note for yOUr uncle.
Dear Criswell :
1A'hen will I be able to get thS
want.* Mary H.
bly dear MNry:
There will be an illneml in
Which will 8dvance you Into
now Want right after the first o£
Dear Oriswel| :
Should I take this trip and
Will my father live? ,'here is mY
law? "*Viii he return to my dau
her two Children? Mrs. Cleo C.
M'y dear Cleo:
our father will paym before
he is in a chronic state at the
• .ad I know yOU will be Utere at
(Continued on Page 7)
Get Your
Ghost
The 1951 edition of Ghost
Annual is just out with a
ing story of a great stam
a great writer. Brilliant,
and authentic. Klondike, the
of the gold rush.
This 3g-page Ghost Town
includes articles by famous
era writers: Mark Twain,
Stanley Lane, Rockwell D.
C. L. Sonechin, Ranger Z.
J. M. Hutchings, Claude
Putnam, Sr.,<2arlT. Nunan
Allen de Ford, Nichols
on and other prominent
Crammed pack full each
38 pages tells tale of the
with scores of pictures and
by great artists.
A collectors" item!
MAILEO POSTPAID
50€
Including Tax
Magazine California
Bin A, Shafter, Calif.
Please send me ( ) copies of (
Town Annual at 50c each, for v
[ am enclosing $ ......
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