The evening times. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1895-1902, 1900-09-04
CAVIARE's RISING PRICE.
Catch of Sturgeon in the Delaware
Growing Less Yearly.

IFofTsaK Less carly
The great decline in the catch Of stur-
geon in American waters is one of the
reasons for the large increase in the value
Of cayiare. which sold as low as So a keg
in 1885 and as high as s105 a keg last year.
Caviare is the most valuable by-product
obtained from the sturgeon. Until recently
nearly all Of the cayiare obtained in this
country was sent 10 Germany. John \.
COBB an agent Of the United States Fish
Cor.neission has been nYestigating for the
Government the sturgeon fishery Of Della
ware River and Bay. This is the largest
sturgeon fishing ground in this country.
Years ago the Delaware River and Bay
swarmed with these huge fish. They were
q nulSs nee in the river because of the dam
age which they did TO the fish nets. Since
1870. however, sturgeon fishing has been
pushed so energetically that unless the
fish are protected they are threatened with
determination.
There has been a continuous decrease in
the number Of sturgeon taken by fishermen
for the past ten years. The Delaware fish
ermen use gill nets TO capture the stur-
geon and their season begins early in April
ana closes about the middle of June. The
fishermen live during the season on small
vessels or immense scoWs fitted with a
cabin al either end If their camp is near
swampy shore.-Mr. Cobb explained the
use Of the gill nets, which average about
$50 fathons in length and twenty-one feet
in depth.
The nets are always drffted. The fish
ermen generally go out about two or three
hours before slack water and put their
nets overheard AS the fish feed near the
bottom, the nets must be arranged so as
10 reach close to the bottom. This is done
by sinking the corkline the necessary dis
lance below the surface by means OF extra
heavy leads On the lower line. and the
net is kept track of by attaching to it
wooden buoys called 'dabs,' by means of
ropes. The fishermen drift along behind
their net, usually about the middle of it.
Should a buoy indicate that anything had
been captured in the net, the fishermen at
once take in that section, and if a fish has
been gilied 1t is hauled into the boat and
tle net is reset. The sturgeon are taken
aboard by means OF Iong-handIed hooks OF
round iron Although from six to ten
feet in length, they struggle very little
when gilled. When being hauled into the
boat they seem 10 lcse all heart, and are
generally rolled in like log They
make rather difficult object. however,
to get into boat, owing to their great
bulk and weight. The two men forming
the crew have all they can conveniently
handle when a big female sturgeon is
taken \ fisherman at Bayside has been
known to handle seyen-foot fema Ie
single-handed, but this was a very IN
usual occurrence. The net is usually
fshed out once a day, Il is taken in at
slack water and the fishermen come back
to camp with the ebb tide.
The cowfsh, which have hard roe of the
kind used in preparing cayiare are the most
valuable, being worth from $40 to $65 each,
the latter price having been paid for an
extra large one last year. Female fish
which have spawned, or with soft spawn
which cannot be used for caviaTe. and bucks,
or male fish, are valuable only for their
flesh. The females average about 35u
pounds each when taken from the water,
and the males only sixty-fiYe pounds each.
Fertilizer and oil are made from the refuse
of he sturgeon. The caviaTe is prepared
I IN this way:
After the eggs have been removed from
the fish, they are placed in large chunks
upon a stand, the top Of which is formed
of small-meshed screen. On the under
side is arranged a zinc-ltned trough, about
eighteen inches deep, two feet wide, and
four feet long. The operator gently rubs
the mass of eggs back and forth over the
screen. The mesh is just large enough to
let the eggs drop through. and as they are
| separated from the membrane by the ruo-
| bing they fall through into the trough and
are thence drawn off into tubs by means O.
1 After all the roe has been separated, thu
| tub is removed and a certain proportion O
| the best Luneburg Germany salt added Il
| the roe, after which the operator CAREFUL,
stiTs and mixes the mass with his hands
| The most delicate part Of the whole opera
ton is in the manner of mixing. No di
rect rule can be given for doing this por
| ton of the work, as the condition of the
roe regulates the time consumed and tn
| manner of handling. 1t requires practica
/ experience to become proficient.
after adding the salt, the mass of egg
| first dries up, but in ten or fifteen minute
! the strength of the salt draws from tn
! eggs their Watery constituents and q cepi
| Gus brine is formed which can be pouret
off when the tub becomes too full. Tn,
| salted eggs are poured into very fine
meshed selves which hold about ten pound
| each In the caviare house are usual,
arranged long, sloping boards. with marrow
! strips nailed on each side. On these tn
| sleeves are placed and are left there from
eight to twenty hours in order to drail
thoroughly. The eggs have now become tn
| eaviare of commerce and are transferre
to small casks of either oak or pine, whic
have been steamed IN order to proven
any possible leakage;~the casks are GOV
cred and allowed to stand until the ga
escapes and the eggs settle. The vacan
| space caused by the settling is then file
and the eask headed up and put in COG
place until ready for shipment. The eask
cost about 81 each and held about Is
pounds net. It requires about eleve
quarts of salt to prepare key OF caviart
Formerly only the hard roe was use
in making cayaire, but some of the fisher
men have become SO expert that they ca
handle roe which is medium soft and sti
prepare fair grade of caviare.'
Mr.. Cobb estimates that 1,94S kegs
cavare were prepared in 1897 from stuIf
con caught in the Delaware River and Ba
and these were sold for $40, 73S. During til
season of 1899 only 700 kegs of caviar
were obtained from this same district.
stops the Cough