Norwich bulletin., 1916-08-11
THE WAR PRIMER By National Geographic Society
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Our Surpassing Fisheries.-FleSh and fowl may fail us. but AmerIa's SC fish supply is going on forever, ac- cOrding to censuses of the tinny tribes which inhabit our lakes, streams and coast waters from Alaska to the Flor ida Keys. Dr. Hugh Nj. Smith, the leading authority in this country on the subject tells of Anerica's sur passing fisheries in a communication to the National Geographic Society, now made public in the following bull letin:
 With the acquisition of Alaska there came to us marine resources Of such transcendent value as to over shadow all other natural products and 10 give the United States fisheries the leading place among the nations.
 The creatures which support our fisheries are not all fish, but belong in various classes. some of those contrib uting most notab.y to the importance Of the industry being crustaceans and mOllusks. The total annual value of our fisheries ct the present time is approximately S13,000G00.
 The most numerous fish of eco- homie importance on the east coast of the United States is the menhaden, which is known also by large mum Der of other names. some of them in appropriate and misleading. It is 9 member of the herring family; goes in great schools in the ocean, bays and sounds, and supports a fishery from Maine to Florida.
 Although the menhaden is a pal atable food fish, it's principal value now, as in the past, is for conversion intO oil and fertilizer. At times it is exceedingly fat, and yields a cheap grade of oil much used in the in dustries, while the part remaining after the extraction of the oil is rich in ammonia and is one of the best fer tiizers, whether employed alone or in COmbina ton with other ingredients. The chief purpose, however. which the merhaden serves is a food for nuIner- our valuable fishes along the entire coast. It forms at times the principal diet of isiuefsh, swordfsh, squeteague, maCkerel, Spanish mackerel, etc, and often when we eat these fishes we are really consuming transformed men haden. The abundance or scarcity of menhaden in a given season or on given part of the coast may determine the abundance or scarcity of various important food fishes: and for this reason, in addition to it's immediate value to man, 1t has by some persons been regarded as the most important fish on the Atlantic Coast of the United States.
 Some idea of the abundance of menhaden and the magnitude of the fishery may be gathered from the fact 
 were caught and converted into over six and a half million gallons of oil and nearly ninety thousand tons of fertilizer, valued at three and a half million dollars. These fish, if placed end to end, would have extended in an unbrOken line six times around the earth at the equator, and their weight exceeded that of all the inhabitants of Greater New York
 Among the fishery products in which America is preeminent, the most conspicuous is the oyster This, our most important aquatic resource, is not only more valuable than in any Other country, but more valuable than in all other countries combined. The American oyster has the further dis tinction of being a staple food Of com paratively low price, while in prac- tically every other country having a well developed oyster industry the oyster is a high priced luxury. Its commanding position is shown in the facts that it is a commercial conmod- ity in every coastwise State except two -CMaine and New Hampshire): : that it is the leading fishery product in fifteen States, and that it is the most extensively cultivated of all our aquatic animals. The annual oyster crop of the United States is about 95, COG, 900 bushels.
 '"The salmon resources of the Pa cif1c States are among the natural wonders of the Western Hemisphere, but they now take rank after those of Alaska, whose fisheries as a whole have experienced their remarkable de- velopment and attained their present surpassing importance chiefly because of the salnnOns. Since Alaska became part Of the national domain, the total value of the product taken from the waters of the territory up to the present year has been nearly $500, 900, = 0G0 the fishery reached its climax in 1915, with a value of $21,0OO,O00, which is three times the purchase price Of Alaska.
 The ample experience of private fish cuIturists in all parts of the coun- try confirms the opinion often ex- pressed by national and State fishery 1 officials, that under given conditions aGuiculture may be more profitable than agriculture; that an acre of the best water may yield larger returns than an acre of the best land, and that food supplies of untold volume and value may be expected from what are now unused waters.''