Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1912-12-02

Aside from food. no other fish product
of the United States is so valuable COM
mercia1ly as that provided by the utiliZa-
ton of the menhaden herring along the
Atlantic coast. 1t includes high-grade
fish oil which is utilized for many pur-
poses and fertilizer which has to large
extent supplanted the guano which was
formerly imported in such large quanti-
ties from the western coast of South
America. The average annual catch or
menhaden is 6OOOOO,OOO fish, from which
is produced about 10000 tons of fertilizer
and over $4,000 barrels of oil. together
amounting to at least a million and a
half of dollars in value. There are now
thirty-two menhaden factories in this
country, which engage about seventy
steamers in taking the fish.
The industry Of manufacturing Oil
from the menhaden herring is now over
hundred years old. although it is only
the industry has had any commercial i'm
portance In 1911 Charles Baker and
John Tallman commenced making oil out
of menhaden fish at Blue Point wharf
near Portsmouth, r. l. They used two
iron pots and at first boiled the herring
over an open fire upon the shore After
boiling well, the fish were packed into
barrels or hogsheads and weights put
upon the lid. This pressed the fish down
and the oil rose to the top and was skim
med off. A man named John Hunt went
into partnership with them and he SKIM
med off the oil and sent 1T to New York
The first factory to cook the fish by
steam was built by Baker in 1918. BY
this time the value of the waste and the
water had been recognized, and Baker
used it first in enriching his own land
and afterward offered it for sale. The
factory in Rhode Island for some reason
never became we'll known, and in the
minds of most people the menhaden in
dustry originated in Surrey on the coast
of Maine in 1880.
For number of years it centered there
because of the immense schools of these
fish which were found along the shores.
Twenty years ago S2,O09,OOO capital was
invested in the menhaden industry along
the Maine coast and then suddenly the
fish deserted those shores and the fac
tories stood idle. These fish then became
nOticeably abundant along the coast OF
the middle Atlantic states, centering in
Virginia, which state now is the leader
in the menhaden industry. return of
the menhaden to the New England coast
has been noted, however, within the last
three years, and last year and the year
before a few barrels of oil were manu-
featured and there is now a strong feel
ing that it may again be a thriving
trade there.
X x
The menhaden, which is scientifically
known as BrevoOrtia tyrranus, has
many local
Names Of Menhaden names along the
Differ Along Coast. FSns., !" - is
called 'porgie," in New Jersey and New
York moss bunker" in Virginia ''old
wives" probably a corruption of ale
wives,' and in the Carolinas it is known
as fiat back" This fish has been taken
all along the Atlantic coast from the
time of the first settling by the white
men. 1t always has been used in
small way for food by the negroes and
poorer whites along the southern coast.
When it is properly prepared it
is good to eat and can take the place of
better fish. The fish roe fried is quite a
delicacy in the opinion of many people
and is eaten in the coastal country
south of Cape Hatteras. 1t also is
canned to some extent and sold as food.
AS is common with all migratory fish,
the oldest and strongest go the farthest,
which in the case of the menhaden
means farthest north. Therefore the size
of the fish differs according to the part
of the coast upon which it is found. The
average length of the menhaden caught
along the Maine coast is twelve inches,
in Long Island sound about ten inches,
along the coast of New Jersey and Della
ware bay about nine inches, in Chesa-
peake bay about eight inches and south
of Cape Hatteras six or seven inches.
There is no fish the habits of which
have been more discussed than the men
baden. Their spawning habits have
especially been in dispute. An employee
of the bureau of fisheries once asked an
old fisherman who had been engaged in
taking menhaden for fifty years all along
the coast from Casco bay in Maine to
Port Arthur. Tex: Captain. what do you
know about menhaden?" The answer
given emphatically was, Not a blamed
thing and no one else does Notwith-
standing this dictum it is generally ac-
cepted that the menhaden Spawns prin-
cipally in the warm waters south of the
United States, chiefly in the Caribbean
sea and mainly through the months of
January, February and March.
The menhaden are now being taken
quite extensively along the gulf coast
They are small
M