Evening star., 1915-06-13

I schools numbering hundreds of mil
| lions. Being oily, ii would have to be
! cured quickly, before the oil had time
| to turn rancid. All this is said with
| due respect to the Maryland court
! which recently decided that the men
f, haden is not food fish.
! Another of our unused fishes. obtain
able in unlimited numbers. is the dog
| fish. which is the smallest of the
| sharks. 1t is a frightful nuisance to
i fishermen, stealing the bait and fish
| from trawl lines, eating the helpless
food fishes caught in the gill nets and
showing the nets to pieces. In New New
| England waters alone it causes loss
! of many thousands of dollars annually
, To exterminate it or even to reduce its
numbers materially seems impossible
and the only way to deal with 1T is to
! turn it to useful account by eating it.
Dogf1shes weigh from five to fifteen
pounds. They get their name from
their habit of travelling in large schools
! or packs, like dogs or wolves. Cnfor-
| tunately there is in this country a
I strong prejudice against the doghsh
| but in Europe it is always in demand
In England last year 100000 pounds
| of it were sold at a much. higher price
| than our fishermen got for many of our
staple food fishes.
| It's flesh is exceptionally nutritious
| and has the advantage of being. free
from bones. Our fishermen, catching
dogfishes incidentally as they do, could
afford to sell them for cent a pound.
This reminds me to say that there is
a great opportunity for American can
ners to put up for export the fishes
which, while In demand abroad. are
not used here. Among the species
available for this purpose is the dog
fish. In Germany not long ago I found
dogfish canned in jelly, and the label
| read. Formerly known as cells in jel-
ly." The dogf1sh is very slender in
form and, cut into short lengths, re-
sembles a big eel when packed in the
manner described.
inasmuch as the supply is often in
great excess of the demand, is the sea
mullet. 1t is one of the most deli
cious of food fishes and exceedingly
Atlantic and gulf states. especially in
North Carolina and Florida. Prepared
like the herring of the North sea and
packed in barrels, it should find
ready sale anywhere on the continent
of Europe.
Catfishes are often waste product
in southern waters. There are num-
ber of species, some native to fresh
water and others to brafkish or salt
water. The sea catfshes. which are
not exclusively marine, are very abun-
dant and scarcely used at all. They
are found all the way from the Caro-
linas to Mexico, weighing from three
to twelve pounds, and may be caught
with hook and line. in seines and traps
or by various other means.
There are literally hundreds Of un-
utilized species of food fishes along
| our southern and northwestern coasts
| and in Alaska. Most of them would
| find a market in Europe if salted,
canned or otherwise suitably prepared.
Even after the war is over there will
be fish famine in Europe ro FOR Tor a a, long eas
that seems attractive and edible will
90 Off like hot cakes. Whatever diff
culties may now stand in the way. our
opportunity to build up a foreign trade
| in the fishes not used at home Will be
such as has never existed hitherto and
may never come again.
The Secretary Of Commerce is greatly