The Washington herald., 1908-08-09
MIGHT SELL IT IN CHINA
Pacific Coast Shellfsh Much Priced
There.
AbaIOne Considered DeIicacy by
Rich Persons in Celestial
Empire.

! In the waters Of the Pacific O-eaa near
/ the coast OF California curious she'll
/ FISH abounds, which is used extensively
I by the Chinese for food Properly cooked
/ this crusteceau is a delicious dish. and the
I better class Of Chinese prize it highly.
Vice Consul r. c. Baker. Of Annoy. calls
attention 20 the demand for the sheufsh
I which IS called ''awabI~ in China and
suggests that il would be wise for Ame-i.
cans 10 introduce the prodgct from the
Pacific Coast. properly canned. ia The
/ Chinese market He says
No attempt. as far as this consulate car
/ ascertain. has been made To introduce this
American product here. though large
quantities Of abaIone from Japan are now
sold -u China under the usme 'avv-l5s %
! II ahoUnds in japanese waters. and Us
use by the Chinese as a f0oGstuT dates
I from time immemoriaI
There is an unlimited market for the
I prepared product iu China. for awabI now
constitutes one of tle most delicate dishes
| q the better class. Of Chinese. Its de-
mand IS constant throughout the year
and its use universal throughout rEe en-
Tire.
Since the Introduction Of the canned
ahal1re IN comparatively recent years
there seems 10 De a growing demand IN
favor of the canned instead 0f the dried
product both coming chiefly from Japan
and the Loocho Islands The import duty
on awah! in bulk IS Is haikva- 1- Gus
tom taels per plcul lg3 Is pounds. or s.
cents gold per hurdredWelght The inn
portacion into Annoy amounted 20 Fl.gG
pounds IN IsJ.. against #Z55 pounds in
1856 and 52.a55 pounds in 1876.
The canned a6aloue sells f- the local
market az Sc Mexican tSI Mexican EQUALS
- cents gold per case of fo-ry-e5err cans.
OF s. Mexican per dozen. each can con
tanning one large abal1ue OF TWO smaller
ones. while the retail price averages about
- ceu.E Mexican per can The dried
.lbalon- sells at about S224 NeNic4- per
carty zone and oue-tli-d pounds. 0r g.
cents gold per pound. and IFS value varies
according 10 the freshness Of the prepared
product, the salty ones being IN d-sfavOr
with the Chinese
Tie japanese product now controls the
market. although some Australian ones
are being introduced here. bat they are
not Yet popular and can hardly compete
successfully with the japanese. The price
for this abalone lAIsrraliaal IS 0uly about
SO cents gold per pound
The dealers IN Annoy are numerous. and
are at present dependent upon the Job
bers in HonEkonE for their supplies
American dealers Gesir1-s Of entering this
field would DO vel by establishing ageu-
cies az Shanghai and HouEzCnE IS these
places aae the distributing certers- d.
rect shipments could easily be made from
- -
the principal abaIone dealers az Annoy
may be obtained from the Bureau OF
Manufacturers
As the abalone abounds in Southern
California in quantities sufficient % export
AT the rate Of hundreds Of tons per an
mum. this industry could probably De con-
siderahly developed Not only would there
be large profit from The edible portion
Of the abalone. but the shell could be
also sold at a good price. and would con-
stitute a valuable by-pr0dIct