The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1888-08-25
SARDINEs FOR MARKET.
Where These Fish Ara Caught and
Where They Are Sold.
From, the Mem York Mail.

From the Mem York Mail.
The true sardine, at full growth. Is little
smaller than the herring. At this stage it
is fat, oily and of mild flavor. 1t weighs
between quarter and e third of pound.
This fish, which on toe coast of Cornwall.
England, is known as the pichard and in
Brittany as the "winter sardine," appears
toward the close of the cold season
and vanishes in June. 1t is then
supposed to be more than two years old.
This sardine is sailed, but never pro-
served in oil. 1t is the so-called summer
sardine which is fried in boiling oil, packed
in tin boxes and shipped all over the world.
This is the same fish as the p.lchard or win
ter sardine, only It is q year younger. III
arrives off the Breton coast i'll vast shoals
during June, and from that out until No
vembsr it is taken in nets, the bait used
being the salted roe of the Goldfish, or
minute species of shrimp procured i'll the
neighborhood. Whittier 1t goes and where
it passes the cold season is unknown, but 1t
is believed to be deep water fish, which
only in the months mentioned comes to the
sur. ace. This is certain, however, that 1t
is met with only near the section of the
Atlantic coast of Europe which extends
from Cornwall to Portugal
the sardine industry has of late years
passed through a severe crisis. The take
small during the whole period from
1880 to 1885, with the exception of tue year
1888. In l8S6 the vniue of the sardines in
oil exported from France fell to 81. 800 600,
or less than one-haif what it was seven
years befor. Last year, ON the other hand,
was extremely profitable to the canning
factories, although the price paid for the
fresh sardlnes, pc" thousand, ranged from
60 cents to $40 The competition to which
the French manufacturers are subjected
comes not only from the Uuited States,
where the fish used is not the true sardine,
but also from Portugal, where the genuine
fish is prccurabIe, and where
extensive canneries have recently
been set up Nevertheless, there
are certain French Gamers whose
trade marks are widely known and whose
products everywhere command prices rela-
lively high. Their control OF the market is
probably due to the fact that they are care
fu to employ nothing bat veritaDIe olive
oil of superior quality. The vast quantity
of cotton seed oil annually shipped from
Alexandria to Marseilles raises the suspicion
that some French sardine Gamers may ex-
pose themselves to the charges that have
been levelled at their American rivals. At
all events, it follows that the exquisite
favor of certain French products is owing
partly to the quality of the oil. and partly
to the fact that only genuine sardires are
eyiscerated and fried within an hour or two
after they are caught.
No fish deteriOrates more rapidly, after
removal from the water, than the sardine.
By the new order issued by the French
government it is made a misdemeanor,
punishable by fine and Imprisonment, for
any one to use large, capacious or improved
nets, by which huge multltudes of summer
sardines could be drawn i'll at a stroke.
This prohibition was issued in conformity
with the wishes of the Breton fishermen,
who ascribe the crisis to which their in
dustry has been sub ected to the sweeping
destruction of the fish by the new tangled
implements employed in their capture. and
for which they give the Americans the
credit of inventing But as the large seines
are employed by their Portuguese COMPETE
tors, who are fast taking away the trade
from their French rivals, the Breton can
ners naturally protest against this inter
ference of the state, but their protests are
unavailing
The Maine fisherman claims that the fish
on the California coast are identical with
those taken off the coast of Brittany, and
can be taken in far greater quantities here
than in Europe. He argues that with the
superabundaEce of fish and the benefit to be
derived from the product of American
brains in the way of mechanical appliances
for catching them, he expects to be able to
pun purely naulVe StTulne on Cne market,
cured III California olive OIL at a far less
figure than the same quality of goods
can be imported for. He expects
to adopt a trade mark, and, by can
ming none but the choicest fish to be
caught, the American sardine will, before
long, be placed on sale in every town and
city throughout the union, and soon after
ward will find their way to Europe The
imported sardine is sold in this city in two
size DoyeS Is cents for the smaller and rs
cents for the larger size made. Our Maine
enthusiast claims that he will be able to
put the American fish in the market at a
less cost to the consumer by so per cent.
ard still leave handsome profit on the in
vestment.