Evening star., 1918-01-20

did not dare to put it forth to the peo-
pie under the name of doghsh for rear
of the. prejudice concerning II. lney
gave it new trademark the gray
fish," and as such it promises TO pecome
one OF our most common sea 1oods'
fresh and canned. They are now can
ming grayash on the coast or MassaenI- i
setts, and it is expected that the sal.
mon canneries of Puget sound will put
it up during the winter, when there
are no salmon to pack.
The grayhsh is found in both the Al
lantic and the Pacific. 1t travels about
in great schools, besieging the nshins
grounds and eating or driving away
every fish which is too big to be swal-
lowed. 1t is one of the robbers OF the
sea, and eats even the bait of the
fishermen, tearing their nets to pieces
with its sharp teeth which cut iike
shears. Not only is the hesh gooo 10
eat, but the liver Is valuabie Tor on,
and the eggs are sold to the leather
trade The eggs are said to be hatched
within the body of the mother. and are
as large as the yolk of hens eggs. Al
though the canned product was nfst
known in 1916, grayfsh is now selling
on the market of thirty states OF the
Union 1t has been handled py the
dealers of 12S towns in New YORK anu
PENNSYLVANIA alone and 1t is cheaper
than salmon, can costing only 10
cents. The bureau of fisheries has a
book of recipes telling how TO COOK IL.
The fish scientists at washington are
making all sorts of experiments In the
preparation and curing OF hsh- Ihey
will send you recipes as to how TO use
salt and smoked fish, and buiietln
recently issued gives you a new recipe
of that kind for every week the year
through. They have also prepared III
rections for smoking fish, including
design for a smokehouse. which can be
built for very few dollars. They have
found that many of our fishes Whlch
are not especially palatable in fresh
al
cured. and they say that carp. river
sturgeon and bowfin are excellent when
smoked.
The bowfin is found in the great lakes
region the Mississippi valley and in the
streams of the Atlantic coast from
New York to Florida. 1t likes the weedy
waters along the shores. going into the
shadows at night and returning to the
deeper places by day. 1t is very Vora-
cious and savage. having been known
to bite a two-pound fish clean in two at
one snap. 1t can be raised in ponds,
and it is said that you can put 1t in a
rain barrel and keep 1t all summer
without changing the water. The bow
fin can be captured with a net or set
lines. or it can be caught with a hook
and line. 1t is sometimes taken by the
sportsman on the trolling spoon. and is
considered one of the gamiest of fishes.
How would you like to eat shark
You will probably be doing so before
this war is over, and if the fish
authorities here tell the truth you will
find it delicious During the past sum
mer they have tested six species of
sharks in the fish laboratory at Woods
Hole and have fed their flesh to fifty
people. The meat was cooked in differ
ent ways. and was pronounced not only
good for food but especially pleasing in
smoking and sailing shark meat, and
the smoked shark is equal to smoked
herring and can be marketed much
more cheaply. They have been intro
ducingfshark meat to the general public.
having had 1t served at luncheons and
dinners in different parts of the coun-
try am told that some of the sharks
taken in the New England waters last
summer were dressed and their meat
shipped to New York as swordhsh. 1t
was sold there in the market, bringing
as high as 20 cents per pound. Before
exporting the fish the men cut off the
fms and threw them away. In China
shark fms are considered a great deli
cacy. I once attended a state dinner
given by Ii Hung Chang at Tientsin at
which red sharks fms were part of
the menu. I ate. them with chopsticks.
and they were not at all bad. The
Chinese have been eating the dogf1sh
shark, which we are now just begin
ming to appreciate, under its new
name of grayflsh. for generations. The
!, Japanese know shark food and like it.
dollars a year out of their shark Ash
, cries. and sell something like $4,000
: worth Of shark fins per annum.
!, FRANK G. CARPENTER.