FISHERY BULLETIN: VOL. 79. NO. 4 



Most, if not all, of this harvest probably was not 

 recorded in commercial landings. In 1880 (Collins 

 1887), 10 t (23,000 lb) of the total reported catch of 

 237 t (522,999 lb) landed in Delaware were used as 

 human food. Modern usage of the resource is 

 as raw material for production of oil, meal, and 

 soluble proteins. Menhaden now is used only in- 

 directly as a commercial food product, by incor- 

 porating meal and solubles in diets for poultry and 

 livestock. The oil is used in a variety of products 

 from paint to cosmetics. 



By 1887 and 1888 a menhaden industry 

 had developed in Delaware. Two factories were in 

 operation at Lewes, employing 88 men ashore. 

 Fishing vessels were powered by steam; 5 vessels 

 and 107 fishermen operated in 1887, 4 vessels and 

 84 fishermen in 1888. Most of the catch at that 

 time was made in gill nets but haul seines took 

 about 27*?^ of the total catch. The catch produced 

 878,206 1 (232,000 gal) of oil and 3,000 tons of 

 scrap (fish meal) in 1887; 582,455 1 (153,870 gal) 

 and 1,800 tons in 1888. 



The method of recording landings and indus- 

 trial production of menhaden used in the 1880's 

 produced some inconsistent figures. It is obvious 

 that landings of 100 t (220,399 lb) reported for 

 Delaware in 1887 could not produce 878,206 1 

 (232,300 gal) of oil and 3,000 tons of scrap. 

 The discrepancy was caused by the method of allo- 

 cating raw materials and processed products. The 

 fishing vessels were registered in Connecticut and 

 their catch was reported in their State of origin. 

 The plants at Lewes, Del., were also built and 

 owned by Connecticut interests, but their produc- 

 tion was credited to Delaware, the State in which 

 they were located. 



Menhaden landings in Delaware can be esti- 

 mated by using figures on menhaden production 



for the State. These are given, for the most part, in 

 numbers of fish rather than in weight, a peculiar 

 method of accounting for the greatest weight of 

 fish landed, especially as we know that they were 

 not counted. Menhaden were weighed by filling a 

 bucket which held half a ton. In 1901 weight was 

 given in numbers offish, but it was also said that 

 1.67 fish weighed 1 lb, which was equivalent to 

 3,000 fish /ton. This conversion factor was used to 

 calculate weight offish in 1904 and earlier. In 1908 

 and thereafter, total landings for Delaware were 

 given in pounds. 



This peculiar way of handling menhaden could 

 be quite misleading. For example, in Chesapeake 

 Bay, the average weight of menhaden in the purse 

 seine catch was about 3 or 4 fish to the pound, and 

 probably is more now. In North Carolina it must 

 be even greater. These are averages, and they will 

 vary considerably from spring to fall, and with 

 relative numbers of the different ages of fish. 

 Thus, it is much more logical to quote menhaden 

 landings by weight, since that is the way they are 

 measured. A menhaden catch in Chesapeake Bay 

 will contain considerably greater numbers of 

 fish than one of the same weight in Delaware or 

 farther north. 



Menhaden landings in Delaware were fairly 

 large in the early 1900's but fell to a low point in 

 1932 (Figure 7). This low point was partly caused 

 by the depression, which reduced demand and 

 prices, but also by the great overproduction of 

 whale oil in 1931, which saturated world markets. 

 The Pacific sardine fishery was also beginning 

 about 1915, and the menhaden fishery did not 

 develop fully until the late 1940's, when the 

 Pacific sardine fishery began to collapse. The rise 

 of the broiler industry, especially in the Delmarva 

 Peninsula, also created favorable market condi- 



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Figure 7.— Commercial landmgs of 

 Atlantic menhaden in Delaware, 



1887-1977. 



582 



