CHAPTER 11 



The Menhaden Fishery 



Fred C. June 



Menhaden support the largest and one of the oldest fisheries in North 

 America. When the first European colonists reached the New World, 

 the coastal Indians already were exploiting this vast fishery resource in 

 the western Atlantic Ocean. Although few people claim knowledge of 

 what a menhaden is, almost every grammar school child in the United 

 States learned how Squanto of the Massachusetts Tribe taught the Pil- 

 grims to place the ''munnawhatteaug," or menhaden, in each hill of 

 Indian corn. The extent to which menhaden were used for this purpose 

 by the early settlers is unknown; however, memory of the practice led 

 to the utilization of this fish when crops along the southern New England 

 coast began to fail early in the 19th century. In 1801, Ezra L'Hommedieu, 

 a wealthy land owner on Long Island, published the results of several 

 experiments in which menhaden were applied successfully as a soil dress- 

 ing. L'Hommedieu's claims held promise of increased wealth to farmers 

 living along the seacoast, and soon a number of small companies were 

 organized for the purpose of supplying menhaden for fertilizer^. These 

 events marked the beginning of a commercial fishery which eventually 

 was to become the largest in North America. 



The Resource 



Description and Distribution of Menhaden. Menhaden are small, oily 

 fishes belonging to the herring family Clupeidae. They are similar in 

 appearance to the alewife and shad but are distinguishable from these 



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