The daily monitor leader. [volume] (Mount Clemens, Mich.) 1942-19??, 1942-05-08
BY PETER EDSON
Monitor Leader Washington
Corresponcent

year WIl6Tl people 60 IISIlIlSI
listen TO q big fish story from
Washington
The fish concerned is the
menhoden. It's q member Of
the herring tribe. 1t breeds-oh
hoy, how il breeds in the warm
waters Of the Caribbean. 1t is
virtually the most prolific Of
all fish and all the menhoden
token out Of the sea by the ton
haven't lowered the water level
by so much as q Death Valley
drop.
Come spring, the menhoden
starts north with the ball clubs,
being confined to the SEQ, the
fish stick to the warm water
currents, swimming close TO the
shore so they can pick up the
scores. They troVeI as far as
Long Island Sound, taking in
the smart resorts - P q ! m
Beach, Sea lsIond, Virginia
Beach, Atlantic City and New
port; though they never round
Cape Cod to Boston. They stay
north all during the baseball
season, but by world series
time, they're usually heading
south for the winter.
1t would be q nice life for
the menhoden, except thot
they're rather small. About five
inches for the yeorIings on the
northbound trip. They grow
considerably in the benign
bockwoters Of BoiIey's beach,
Buzzord's Bay and such smart
watering places, and on the re-
turn trip they're much better
catches. Full grown, q menhod-
en- may reach two and O half
pounds, or up to IS inches.
The menhoden schools ore
attacked by practically every
thing - barracuda, blue fish,
sharks, dog fish, tuna. Yet the
little fish aren't very good cot
ing. What the menhoden op-
PorentIy provide is q kind Of
castor oil for all the fish in the
SEQ. That's Nature for you.
BIG BUSINESS
Other things that attack the
menhuden ore men. Fishermen.
Thot brings up to the reason
for the story.
The fishermen don't catch
the menhoden to cot, either.
They catch the menhoden TO
make into Vitomins and fish
meal and fertilizer and such
stuff A Z per cent Of a per
cent mix Of n0enhoden oil in
poultry feed is supposed to
make hens 10y eggs like no.
body's business, It's proctGo'>
~ magic.
That being SO, menhoden
fish catching is an important
business. Before P. r., q lot Of
this fish oil and fish meal wos
imported from op an. But
that's out now, so the nenhod-
en- fishing season is more inn
portont than ever.
The sovereign states whose
shores are Rugged by the wo-
tiers through which the men,
hoden migrate have long re-
oIized, however, that menhOd-
en- fishing was q good thing,
and they passed laws TO pro-
tect menhoden fishermen Of
their states from being COM
peted with by those Of other
states. Every seo-going stote,
you remember, is supposed TO
control its ocean for three
miles out and, as menhoden
travel in shallow water, the
states can practically dictate
who catches 'em.
Seventeen states have poss-
ed law restricting menhoden
catching. They restrict the size
Of boot owned by residents Of
other states. They charge high
err license fees for fishermen
from other states. For exam
pie, Delaware has no restric-
tons. Rhode Island prohibits
non-residents from fishing for
menhoden. Connecticut chorg-
eS q nonresident license fee
Of $500. New Jersey charges
$3.50 license for residents and
$1,000 for non-residents. And
so on.
These barriers now provide
@ bottIeneck that is interfering
with the war effort, by eOIIy.
And look what has happened,
This piece that started out TO
be Just another fish story has
developed into something OF
political and economic and So
cioI significance. British bodies
can't get enough Vitonins be-
cause dried egg shipments ore
down because I h ere Oren't