Evening star., 1915-06-13
QJRGREAM WAR OFFERS WEALTH. TO AMERICAN FISHERIES

Interested in the extension of our for
eign trade in fishery products. and is
encouraging practical inquiries anu
experiments looking to an increased
utilization of our neglected resources
for this purpose as we'll as for home
consumption. The bureau. of foreign
and domestic commerce is taking the
matter up, and is trying to interest
fish curers and jobbers all over this
country in the possibilities of develop
ing such trade. In the meantime our
consular officers and commercial agents
abroad are making study of the
European markets for fish products.
with view to putting our fishermen
and dealers in touch with foreign
buyers.
At present our only important ex
port fish is the salmon, of which some
6Oo0o:oOo pounds were shipped to Eu-
rope last year. 1t may sound unrea-
sonable, but l venture to predict that
this product of our Pacific waters will
at future day be rivaled. in our trade
with Europe, by the Alaskan herring.
Along parts of our south Atlantic
coast there are river herrings. not al
ways utilized wisely or to any ade-
quate extent, of which many millions
of pounds annually, prepared after
Scotch methods night be packed for
the foreign market.
The North sea and its tributaries
normally produce upward of 1,25O,O0O
tons of food fishes per annum. If all
of them were loaded on trucks, two
tons to truckload. and with an al
lowance of thirty feet to the truck.
this quantity would furnish a burden
for a procession of trucks extending
all the way from New York city to
New Orleans and thence to San Fran
cisco. And three -fifths of the whole
would be herring.
ic he
valuable fish Its spawning and feed
termined the location of cities, and
there is an old saying that the founda-
tions of Amsterdam were laid upon
herring bones The greatness of Hoi-
land as a sea power in earlier days
was attributed largely to the herring,
her navy being manned by herring
fishermen.
On the coast of Maine herring fishery
Is of great Importance, the principal
method of capture being the brush
weir-an aboriginal contrivance COM
posed of strong stakes with tree
branches woven between them horf
zontally. Into such a weir the her
ring wander, to be f1shed out at low
tide with seines and huge dip nets. A
single weir may take thousands of
hogsheads Of herring In season. The
small ones are canned as sardines,
while the larger ones are mostly
smoked.
Some years ago I estimated that H.
600, ,oO0, 900 herring were captured in
one season in the waters OF the world,
but so numerous are they and so pro-
life that their multitudes remain un-
diminished. Prof. Thomas H. Huxley,
who made a study of the subject with
a view to ascertaining whether there
was likely to be any diminution of the
herring crop through overfshing. ex-
pressed his conclusion by saying:
Man is but one of vast co-opera-
tive society of herring catchers and
the larger share he takes the less there
is for the rest of the company. If man
took none the other shareholders
(meaning the fishes, marine ANIMALS
and birds that prey upon the herringl
would have larger dividend and
would thrive and multiply in propor-
ton, but it would come to pretty much
the same thing to the herrings."