St. Landry clarion. (Opelousas, La.) 1890-1921, 1892-04-02
PGRPOIsE CATCHING.
Killed by Schools for Two Dollars
Apiece.
They Are Drawn Ashore by Seines and
Slaughtered-some of the Uses
to Which They
Are Put,

Philadelphia Press. 1t is just below
Cape Hatteras, and in the fall prepara-
tions are being made for the winters
sport During the summer these curl
Gus mammals-for fish they are not
are scattered all over the ocean, but
when cold we ather comes the prey on
which they feed, menhaden and other
small fry that travel in schools, go
southwark and assemble in vast num-
bers in the shadows about the locality
mentioned. The cape affords barrier
against the fierce winds from the north,
and in the waters below it these little
fishes seek shelter. There according
ly the porpoises congregate. Usually
/ there are about twenty men in por-
poise fishing camp. There must be a
sufficient number to manage four boats
and as many great seines. The boats
are distributed at three stations along
shore. Two of them are together in
one spot, while the third is a mile above
and the fourth mile below. Each
boat has seine on board. Lookouts
are continually stationed upon high
bluffs to watch for game, and they
signal with flags when school Of por-
poises is coming.
Suppose the porpoises are coming
down the coast. Warned in time by
south row their boat rapidly ont to sea,
dropping the seine as they go. If the
thing is properly managed they have
been in time with their net to head off
the first of the animals. As soon as the
school, or most Of it, has got past the
station farthest north the boat from
that point is run out in like fashion,
dropping the seine on the way. Thus
the porpoises find themselves hemmed
in between two fences of net, each
stretching a mile out into the ocean.
They might easily escape by swimming
seaward save for the fact that mean
while the two boats from the middle
station have to put out a mile from
land, not dropping their seines on the
way, but extending them in line par
allel with the shore and joining the
two extremities of the other seines. In
this way is made within few moments
a rectangular pen two miles long and
one mile broad, in which the lucl1less
beasts are confined, They could easily
get out, of course, by breaking through
the nets. inasmuch as their strength is
enormous, but they do not think of that.
The porpoises thus inclosed are sur
rounded with smaller seincs and drawn
in-shore, where they are kept thus in a
little room until the fishermen wish to
kill them. Sometimes as many as two
hundred will be secured at single
haul. The fishery is very profitable,
because there are several products of
the porpoise which are very valuable.
The skin affords an excellent leather.
Upon being stripped from the animal
the hides are salted down, tanned
crudely, and shipped to northern mar
kets, where they are used III the manu-
facture of shoes, travelling bags and
other goods. This leather has a partic-
ularly fine grain, and boots made from
it are given waterproof quality by
the natural oil Of the skin. However,
the highest-priced porpoise leather,
which is very costly indeed, is obtained
from the unborn young. 1t is a most
delicate texture and exquisitely mot
tied in black and white. For book
covers it is a much-admired material.
Everyone has heard of porpoise oil,
which is used for watches and other
delicate machinery. 1t is one of the
most costly oils known, because only
few ounces of it is got from each ami
NAL. 1t is obtained from the jaws only,
being tried out from the bones after the
skin and flesh have been removed.
There is another sort of oil, of very lit
tie value, procured from the fat beneath
the skin and from the liver and other
viscera. Hides are worth from seven
ty-fve cents to two dollars and half
apiece, the latter price being paid for
the best skins of unborn calves. A
school of two hundred porpoises repre-
sents about five hundred dollars to the
fisherman. Nobody has ever attempted
to make any use of the skeletons,
which are scattered by tens of thou
sands along the shore below Cape Hat
teras. They would afford a frst-rate
fertilizer mixed with phosphate.
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