California

B

Fisheries

In the 1940s and early 1950s, California’s annual fishing catch was greater in value and volume than that of any other state. In the 1960s, however, California fell behind Alaska in output; in 2004 the value of its fish catch, at $140 million, ranked high in the nation. Among the most important commercial fish caught in Californian waters are species of tuna, salmon, halibut, mackerel, and anchovy. Shellfish taken in coastal waters include crab, shrimp, and abalone.

C

Forestry

California usually ranks third among the states, after Oregon and Washington, in output of timber and lumber. Lumbering is the chief economic activity in the Sierra Nevada and in northwestern California. Redwood and Douglas fir are the most important commercial species in the northwest. Ponderosa or yellow pine is the principal commercial species in the Sierra Nevada. About two-fifths of the forestland is classified as commercial forest; more than half of the commercial forest is managed by the United States Forest Service.

D

Mining

California is the fourth-ranking state in annual mineral output by value, after Texas, Louisiana, and Alaska. Crude oil and natural gas account for two-thirds of the value of California’s mineral production. California ranks third in the nation in the production of oil, behind Texas and Louisiana. The oil fields of Kern County and the Los Angeles area are the most important. Oil is also produced in offshore waters. Natural gas wells are found in the Sacramento Valley and in all the oil-producing areas. Yet reserves of natural gas are seriously depleted, so much so that the state imports most of the natural gas it consumes each year. The bulk of natural gas piped into California originates in the province of Alberta, Canada, and the states of New Mexico and Texas.

California leads all other states in the production of sand and gravel for construction, Portland cement, diatomite, asbestos, and sodium sulfate. In addition, much of the world’s supply of boron minerals comes from Searles Lake and other areas in California’s Mojave Desert. The state is also the nation’s second largest producer of feldspar, soda ash, titanium, and magnesium compounds, and the third largest producer of gold, perlite, and pumice. Other minerals found in California include stone, lime, clays, gypsum, talc, silver, gemstones, salt, copper, molybdenum, peat, and various high grade iron ores. In spite of the great variety of minerals found in the state, large quantities must be imported to meet the needs of California, which is the nation’s leading consumer of minerals.

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E

Manufacturing

California leads all states in income generated by industrial activity and in industrial employment. In 1996 California’s manufacturing sector contributed ten percent of the nation’s manufacturing total, and some 2.0 million people were engaged in manufacturing in the state.

California’s leading industry, in terms of the value added by manufacturing, is electronic and electrical equipment manufacturing. Value added by manufacturing is the difference between the price of raw materials used in a product and the price it commands as a finished item. The largest employers were firms making semiconductors, radios and televisions, printed circuit boards, and telephones, although the diverse industrial sector contained manufactures ranging from the makers of electron tubes to household lighting fixtures.

Ranking high in California’s economy is the manufacture of industrial machinery, principally computers and related equipment but including the making of pumps, engines, turbines, and machines for the service industry. Many computer companies are located in what is known as Silicon Valley, in the San Jose-Palo Alto area. Food processing, which includes the drying, freezing, and packaging of fruit, vegetables, fish, and livestock products, is another of the state’s biggest industries. Included in this sector is the California wine industry, which accounts for four-fifths of the nation’s annual wine production. The manufacture of instruments contributes significantly to California’s industrial economy, led by firms making such things as surgical and medical instruments, appliances, and supplies, while also including those making electric meters, analytical tools used in research and by other industries, and photographic equipment.

The manufacture of transportation equipment has long been important to California’s economy. By far the largest employers in the sector are aeronautics firms, making civilian and military aircraft, guided missiles, and vehicles used in space exploration. Other activities include the building and repairing of ships and the manufacture and assembly of automobiles.

Manufacturing is concentrated in southern California and around San Francisco Bay. The aircraft industry is centered in the Los Angeles and San Diego areas and is based in large part on federal military expenditures. Automobile assembly plants are located near Los Angeles in the San Fernando Valley, and in Fremont. There are shipbuilding yards at San Diego. In Sacramento, Stockton, Fresno, Bakersfield, and other Central Valley cities, foodstuffs are manufactured. In the San Francisco area, manufacturing is highly diversified and includes food processing, automobile assembly, shipbuilding, chemical production, printing and publishing, and the manufacture of machinery. The computer and electronics industry is centered in Silicon Valley, which is lesser known as, but officially, the Santa Clara Valley.

F

Electricity

Hydroelectric facilities provided 20 percent of the electricity generated in California in 2005. Thermal power plants burning fossil fuels provided another 50 percent, while 18 percent of California’s electricity generation comes from four nuclear reactors, two at Diablo Canyon west of San Luis Obispo and two at San Onofre southeast of San Clemente. The city of Los Angeles imports power from a nuclear plant at Palo Verde in Arizona. Southern California also imports electricity generated at coal-fired thermal plants in Arizona, Nevada, and Utah. Renewable energy sources such as wind-power generators and geothermal power plants, which use heat from the Earth to make steam, accounted for 12 percent of electricity production in 2005.

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