Chinese fish camps once lined the Bay

With their native equipment and methods, the Chinese quickly dominated the shrimp market. They banned together in "China camps" or "fish yards" around the shore of the Bay. As early as 1869, one was located at Redwood Slough near today's Redwood City. The camps had facilities for boiling, drying and storing the catch as well as living quarters for the crew. It was a smelly business and the camps looked uncomfortable as well.

The Chinese built their own boats, or "junks" out of redwood. The boats had flat bottoms to maneuver in shallow water, and were propelled by sails and oars. It took three to five men to crew one. The Chinese typically used conical trap nets. They put weights on one side and floats on the other to spread wide and cover a large area. Each boat would drop 30 or more nets with the large ends toward the current. Shrimp would get trapped in the nets, as they couldn't swim against the current.

Roughly half of the haul would be boiled and sent to the San Francisco fish market. The rest would be boiled and dried. Next the dried shrimp would be crushed. The crush was then winnowed, to separate the shells from the meat. Both products were exported to China. The dried meat was sold as food, and the shells were used as fertilizer.

All the fish camps were managed out of San Francisco's Chinatown. Companies paid the fishermen and directed operations. Some camps had their own company. Others leased their camp, boats and equipment from a company that might manage several camps.

In 1892 there were 200 men in San Mateo County operating 48 vessels and 328 nets. That was the peak year for the shrimp industry. The population of Chinese fishermen during these years was reflected in the U.S. Census. It may be a conservative count, though, as the Chinese were reluctant to provide too much information to the officials.

At this time, the production of all types of fishing in the area went into a decline. Racist attitudes put the blame on the Chinese. It was claimed that their methods destroyed the small fish that were at the bottom of the marine food chain. Increased Bay pollution and the fact that whites, too, had been overfishing was ignored. Laws were passed to restrict the techniques traditionally used by the Chinese. The shrimpers became the scapegoats. When the bag nets were finally outlawed in 1910, the Chinese shrimp industry was over.

The 1900 census reported only 28 Chinese fishermen left in San Mateo County. At that time there were only three camps here at San Bruno. All the marine industries had declined. The elimination of Chinese shrimping didn't increase the fish population, and, in fact, the bag net was made legal again in 1915. The industry never returned to San Mateo County.

Rediscovering the Peninsula appears in the Monday edition of the Daily Journal. For more information on this or related topics, visit the San Mateo County History Museum, 777 Hamilton St., Redwood City.