Iron County register. [volume] (Ironton, Iron County, Mo.) 1867-1965, 1894-08-16
THE STURGEON INDUSTRY

.ne Principal Market for Tn.
Fish and Caviare.
There promises to he a b;o
sture con this year, and that maana
great deal to the dealers =, J."
The caviare sandwich has NOV, I,.
50 popular In the United Scates tina,
'ne supply Is scarcely equal to the de
malt AS Is known, the black. fisbx
paste that Is now fad between niece.
oi preao at late suppers is made O;
sturgeon eggs. In order to add to tbe
iasnion nearly all the little kegs n.
caVlare nave borne Russian or German
laDels' out they all come from tb;.
sac OF the Atlantic, and most ~,
them originated right down ;r
delaware bay. OF course s.rr
geons are caught elsewhere bu,
not SO plentifully as in the vicinity oi
Bayslde, n. j. The fishermen tb.re
are oevoting their energies to stur
geon. Inns Is especially true this wear
because the shad fishing was bad and
uhPronta Die, while big catches are be-
ing MADE OF sturgeon, and the product
mas ready and advantageous
market. Bayside is the main sbippinp
point 1t is in direct connection with
this city. The sturgeon meat ALI conas
to this city, but great MANY kegs ot
cavlare are shipped directly to cann;no
factories in Europe. That il NAYS thu
hshermen to work hard at the business
Will De seen when it is stated that
sturgeon meat is worth from fou,
cents 10 SIX cents pound. and key
OF cavlare, containing about one hun.
dred and twenty-five pounds, sells
readily for thirty dollars.
Other states have sturgeon fisher.
men, but in point of numbers employed
and capital invested New Jersey leads
and represents over one-half of them.
The capital invested in the sturgeon
and caviare industry in the United
states IS slightly more than 81 900. OO0
and the people employed. in round mum.
bers, about 5000. There are twelve
firms In the lake regions of the west.
where the fishing is carried on with
pound nets and seine nets. Outside of
New Jersey the largest amount of CAPT
tai is invested by these lake fishermen.
the amount being about 1926. 900.
There are only half dozen firms in
New York state engaged in the bust
ness.
Sturgeon are caught entirely by nets
and the fish average from $50 to 800
pounds. The roe sturgeon brings the
fisherman from 81 to So, while buck
Is only valued at from 81 to S15O The
Jersey fleet has 155 boats. The ma jOr-
1ty of these are controlled by small
firms, who operate from four to a dozen
boats, and who sell the meat and roe to
several larger firms, who make the
shipments directly to this city. Nearly
every part of the fish is used. The
offal is gathered up and made into fer
tilizers. Sturgeon oil is extracted
from other parts and used by harness.
makers, but the principal industry is
the manufacture of caviare. A good
sized sturgeon will give from three to
four buckets of roe. The eggs
are separated by running them
through coarse sieve several
times and then sailed down by a COM
position of salts, which is made in Ger
many. 1t takes from three to four
surgeons to make a keg of caviare.
Twenty years ago the sturgeon was SC
plentiful that the fishermen spent their
leisure time KILN g them, because of
the destruction of smaller fish and the
havoc they caused among the shad
nets. Now the fishermans wall is that
the sturgeon is becoming so scarce
that the industry is threatened. The
cause of this decline has been the de-
.struction of the mammees. which is
the little sturgeon, now protected by
law, and the other is the fact that
there is no close season for catching
sturgeon. They can be caught in nets
at any time.-N. Y. Telegram.