The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1917-05-31
new FISH
THE TOPEKA STATE JOURNAL
INFORMATION BUREAU
By Frederic j. Haskin. Director
Washington, ID. C.

need worst is live press agent. The
inland and coastal waters of the Unit
ed States contain countless millions of
hieh-grade finely favored edible fish
that are just swimming around wait
ing for chance to play a star part on
the dinner-table and knock out the
props from under the high cost of liv-
ing They don't get a chance because
the consumer doesn't know them, or
has wrong ideas about them. Fisher
men throw them back into the sea
because there is no market for them
The United States bureau of fisheries
has taken up the task Of playing press
agent for these deserving but I'M
known denizens of the deep and is
bringing their virtues and possibilities
10 popular attention. There are half
a dozen kinds of fish that the bureau
Is working on today that you probably
never heard of, but that you will soor
De eating and saving money by SO
doing.
The bureau of fisheries just showed
what 1t could do in the case of the
humble tile-fish. The tile-fish was
playing 6 very subordinate part in
inc deep-sea chorus, living unknown
TO fame. The bureau knew that it
was a high-grade food fish, and pro-
ceeded % bring the fac. home to tho
American public with as much em
phasls as possible. Last year over ten
million pounds of tile-fish were eater;
IN this country, and this year there
VIII be even more. Fresh from this
victory the bureau turns to take UP
the cases of the bowfin, the burbot.
the grayfish, the atxafish, and the sa
oieflsh, Incorrectly known as the
black cod
When you cat a smoked bowfin
some time in the next year or two.
you viii not only be eating a tasty and
nutritious fish, but also a geological
survival. The bowfin is a sturdy and
determined species, that refused to
ole out with its contemporary types
some millions of years ago. back in
the good old days known to BIOLOGISTS
as the MesoZoic. Old species died and
new species developed, but the bowfin
went on forever. 1t is numerous TO-
day all thru the Great Lakes region,
ana down the Mississippi valley from
Minnesota to Louisiana, swimming
about as a sort of surviving ancestor
or the fishes around it. The bowfin,
variously known as the grindle, the
lake-lawyer and the dog-fish. is a
gamy, active fish, a hard fighter and
a clean feeder. Its flesh is rather
soft, and very fine grained, and hence
1t is better fish to smoke than to
eat fresh. Smoked it has been pro-
nounced delicious. 1t has not been
marketed in commercial quantities up
to now, but there is no reason for this
except groundlsss prejudice.
The name of "dog-fish' that was
given to it may have had something
to do with the prejudice. There is no
reason in the world why the bowfin
except that it can snap like a collie.
In the matter of naming fish, popular
custom is marked by a great lack of
originality. Half a dozen totally sepa-
rate and different kinds of fish are
known as "dog-fish." The bowfin IS
OJo ic HI ar
fish on earth that greatly resembles it
from the scientific point of view, and
there has not been for ages. Prac-
tically speaking, it is a good food fish,
and if the name of dog-fish has kept
anyone from eating it, the association
in ideas is unfortunate. Henceforth
it will be known as the bowfin in COM
merce, and should come into common
use in the smoked form.
Another and totally unrelated fish
that the bureau is bringing to the at
tention of the public also labored I'M
der the unpopular name of dog-fish.
This is the rapacious sea fish which
has been officially named the gray
fish. The sgrayfish resembles the
we'll known blue-fish in its preda-
tory habits but it is even more wicked
and dangerous toward its neighbors
1t is a great nuisance to fishermen
so long as there is no market for it.
The grayfish weighs from TIC 15
pounds, and can cut thru fisher
mans net with its strong jaws to get
at the fish within. 1t also takes the
bait on the cod lines of the trawlers,
and the irate fishermeE catch thous-
ands of Crayfish which until lately
they have been compelled for lack of
market to throw back into the sea.
There has never been any reason
why the American public should not
eat grayfish, except that they did not
know the name, never asked for 1t in
the markets, and preferred to buy
well-known varieties like the cod ano
the mackerel. Several million pounds
of grayfinh are eaten annually in Eng
land. AS a result of the campaign to
Introduce it in this country, however,
the grayfish has practically establish
ed itself III the last nine months 1t
can now be secured in tins in 81
states and the District of Columbia.
The bureau of fisheries permits the
Gamers to state on the label that the
fish is recommended and the pack ap-
proved by the United States Bureau
of Fisheries. In all such cases the
bureau has investigated and approved
the methods used.
The object of all these campaigns
on the part of the bureau is simply
to prevent the waste of valuable food
fishes. to supplement our food supply.
and by increasing supply to lower
prices. Some of these new varieties
of fish are selling at 10 cents the
pound can, altho of late the high
price of tin has raised the price in
many localities to two cans for a
quarter. The cheapness of the fish
does not in any way indicate a poor
quality, says the bureau. These fish
are very abundant, and should form
an important part of the national
diet.
Another fish in the same class is the
Pacific coast sablefish, long known as
the black cod. Like the dog-fish.
which does not resemble a dog, like
| the catfish which has little in COM
mon with the cat, or the fish known
/ as a "tobacco-box' in Virginia tidal
waters which cannot be regarded as a
source of plug-cut. the black cod has
nothing in common with the true cod
/ The bureau is trying to have the name
sablcfish universally adopted, not only
in the interests of scientific accuracy
| but also because the name black cod
would cause confusion in marketing