The Savannah morning news., 1904-07-17
MOSSbunkerS---
The Oil Fish
They "Strike In" by Millions
Along the Atlantic Coast.

At this time of the year there NAV
be seen in all the salt waters from
Maine to Cane Hatteras wonderful
schools of silver fish, which swim
in crowded masses. close to the sur
ace, never resting for an instant. 81
many are they that often hundreds Of
acres of sea will be so filled with them
that the water, instead of looking greer
md blue like ocean water, will aDnaar
to be yellow and silver, because The
bodies of the fish are hudded 81
thickly.
Over all these school hover thrones
Of screaming, dipping ea-gulls and
hsh-hawks; and every few moments
silVery fountains rise into the air
shaving where hundreds or evan
thousands of the fish have iumned
from the sea in fright That is due 70
the fact that below them, in the shad-
oWy water, swim great fish-bluefisb
with jaws armed with needIe-Iils
teeth; sharks with gaping Jaws thar
can swallow score of fish at one
gulp, and sleek black PROPOSES
And all around the fiuttering. racine
schools are still greater and more ter9
rlble enemies-men in steam and sail
vessels, each armed with imn7anea
nets, few of which are less than ba1F
mile long. Where the other fsL
capture and kill the schools by thou
sands. man takes them by the ton
These hunted fish are the herring
IKE creatures known as menhaden or
mossbunkers. They have a lot of othe.
names along the coast, such as bunk-
ers, bonkers oil fish and bony fish
While the other fish of the sea bur4
them greedily for food, man doesn,t
use them that way at all: for ~
menhaden as so oily that it is limos
s1ole for the average human paIata
10 tolerate them. But their oil is ~
immense commercial value. and III
business of extracting if forms ~ ne ne
States. -0 OliIIed
1t is obtained by throwing the fish
INTO great presses that squeeze ever,,
drop of oil from them as a man v-ol,i5
squeeze a lemon dry. What is left o4
the fsh comes out in the form of drie5
nat cakes, exceedingly strong Of odor
ana very valuable as fertilizer. Thou-
SANDS of farms along the eaboard arc
covered with menhaden farti1iaas
every season e'ii1eI
Inc menhaden stream in close to tba
coast and they swim in hordes I'm az
cry deep waterway and into every in
let Venturing far up the salt rivers
1hey do not appear to be much afraid
OF vessels, so passengers on the excnr-
SION steamers that ply in and out Of
~: IN. Dig cites OFTEN have the opportun
lty OF passing through school aftor
school of them. Although they are 81
plentiful, they can be caught only with
the net for they do not take baited
hooks.
The menhaden boats carry lookout
on the forward mast. He directs the
motions OF the boat till it is in the
proper direction from the big school
Then long, swift rowboat is launched
The men in the stern take one end Of
the huge net that is coiled on the deck
of the big vessel and drag it off. while
the roWers circle cautiously around the
school till the net has been brought
completely around ii and the end has
been carried back to the big boat. thus
forming a mighty circular fence around
the fish
But this fence is open on the bottom.
and If the men started to haul it the
hsh would dive in mass and swim
away underneath. So when the net is
all around them, no motion is made
toward hauling it. Instead of that
steam winch begins to wind in ropes
that are attached to the bottom of the
net. These gradually pull it together
below like a purse. The nets are called
purse nets" on this account
When the net has been closed, the
steam winch hauls on ropes that are
fastened to the top of the nets and
haul it in like a great bag, from which
not a fish can escape.
The mighty bundle is hoisted clear
of the sea and swung in-board till it
hangs over the open hatch Then the
purse" strings are loosened and the
silvery catch goes pouring into the
hold.
Sometimes, however, it happens that
big sharks or porpoises or a school of
great bluefish is inclosed in the net
with the menhaden. In such cases it
occurs again and again that these big
fish with their sharp teeth rip and tear
through the purse, not only causing
hundreds of dollars worth of damage
to the net, but opening the way for
most of the menhaden to escape.