Evening star., 1918-03-31
FISH SKIN LEATHER
| Being DEVELOPED
Experiments Prove Successful
|; in Plan to Utilize Piscine
q Hides.
COMMISSION IS HOPEFUL

Porpoise-hide shoe strings are an old
story to Americans: new one OF the
possibly near future may be that such
thongs will be serving as laces for
boots made from a durable skin whose
wearsr once swan the sea in company
with the porpoiae.
To speak specifically of ocean-grown
material for footwear may be guessing
too far ahead. but the possibility Of
tanning and utilizing for some pur-
poses, at least, the vast store of hides
that exist in the ocean Is an interest
ing point discussed in the recently is
sued annual report OF the United States
commissioner OF fisheries for the year
ending last June. hoped-for and
probable development of aquatic
sources of leather is at this time of
particular Importance owing to the
growing scarcity Of land mammal hides
used in the manufacture of leather and
the ever-increasing demand for the lat
ter product.
Fishermen, as yet. have no establish
ed market for the skins of their
catches. many Of which have valuable
possibilities, especially those of the
shark family, says DIR. Hugh NJ. Smith.
the commissioner. A small demand for
certain skins already exists, but diff
Guilty is experienced by their users in
getting in touch with supply sources.
The bureau of fisheries is, therefore. in
vestigating both the possibility Of
making satisfactory feathers from fish
skins and Of establishing market
therefor. Its task is to induce tanners
to develop suitable processes OF curing:
then to instruct fishermen in preparing
the hides properly.
Congress Aided Inquiry.
In June last Congress passed an act
.setting aside $4,000, with which. the
bureau was authorised to conduct
Sc4reful investigation in this field In
cooperation with the bureau of stand
:ards- Within the last year the bureau
has distributed several hundred skins
Of sharks, cod. hake, grouper, ray, cat
Ash and wolf-dsh among tanners for
/. experiments, some Of which have been
! successful
"A number of tanners arc developing
/, processes capable Of producing some
very creditable feathers" says DR..
| Smith. "and samples have been sub
United to the bureau of standards, with
: the result that the average tensile
strength of some of the shark hides
. was found to be as great as a.l7s
methods Of skinning sharks, however,
/, are slow and tedious and special instru-
ments are being tried out to overcome
J these difficulties"
The report points, out that the main
use for these sharkskins, owing to their
; roughness, heretofore has been for
polishing purposes by cabinetmakers
and ivoryworkers. also. to a limited
purposes. But the results of recent ex-
perments indicate that they can be
used for bag belt and similar purposes.
and this Information is being brought
to the attention of manufacturers. The
bureau 10 also trying to see whether an
industry can be built up which will
use the tough skins of smaller fish,
Such rs cod. catfish. ETC. Certainly II
. their efforts be successful they will
open up vast new and comparatively
inexhaustible source Of supply for the
leather needs of the country
Report Is Interesting.
The report of the commissioner of
fisheries deals not only with fish and
I; everything having to do Herewith.
but with a surprising lotsof interest
:. ing matters outside of the purely
piscine realms For instance. there is
the Alaska fur seal service. together
with the welfare Of the natives of the
Pribilof Islands, dependent largely on
tne SeduuE 1nQuStry- lHc DuTcdu ven
takes census of the seals and goes
!, into the possible utilization of the waste
/ products of the industry. 1t also in
! terests itself in the blue foxes and the
reindeer of the same island group.
The bureau maintains in Alaska
force of wardens advantageously To-
I Gated with regard to enforcing trap
ping regulations Fur farming is an
other important item. and there are
lnow under lease by the bureau several
= sialauds for the governmental propa-
/ cation Of fur-bearing animals. All OF
these things are embraced in the activ-
1ties Of the bureau in addition to f1sh
tconservation and propagation work on
! \ large scale. a single ACCOMPLISH
ment in the latter line was the distri-
button last year Of no fewer than S1S,-
e3o, 100 eggs, 4,757, ,9Os, ,7s2 fry and s2.-
;,11t,l11 fingerlings, yearling and adults.
- total Of 5.15s.96S.293.
Make Count Of Fish.
The well known dihculties OF the
Gooseherd In counting her charges. in
tensified many times. are cheerfully
undertaken by field employees of the
bureau for they succeed in actually
, counting live and wild fish.
Wood river, a tributary OF Nushagak
BAY Alaska, has for many years been
eet aside as a natural breeding preserve
FOR salmon. In order to keep inform
ed ,as 10 the extent to which the SALMON
! are able to escape the commercial fish,
ing operations and pass up to their
spawning grounds the bureau in 1905
began the enumeration OF the fish and