18() KEPOKT OF COMMISSIOJSTER OF FISH AND FISHERIES. 



extreme limit, and tlie same is x^ossibly true of the seal fisheries of 

 certain regions. However, there is probably no other oil-yielding 

 fishery of which the same can be said. Sperm whales are more numer- 

 ous than thej^ were fifty j^ears ago, when the United States enqjloyed 

 300 vessels in their capture, securing 100,000 barrels of oil annually, 

 as coinijared with the present i^roduct of less than 20,000 barrels. 

 Porpoise and other small cetaceans exist in such large numbers that 

 hundreds of thousands if not millions of gallons of oil can be secured 

 from them. Only a very small i)ercentage of the oil-yielding sharks 

 are ntilized. Much greater quantities of menhaden might be taken 

 than are secured at present, and comparatively little of the abundant 

 waste fish and dressings or refuse from the markets, canneries, etc., 

 are used in oil-production. 



The principal reason for this is that the present economic condi- 

 tions do ]iot warrant an extension of these industries. The market 

 for fish oils is regulated by that of the mineral and vegetable prod- 

 ucts which are used as substitutes, and which can be sold at ver}^ low 

 prices, making it necessary to exercise very great economy in the 

 production of fish oils. Vessels, factories, etc., already on hand maj' 

 be used, but in the United States at least it is questionable Avhetiier 

 the building of new and costly equipment for oil-production would 

 prove profitable under present market conditions except in specially 

 favorable instances, unless the closest economy be practiced. The 

 vessels composing the present sperm- whaling fleet, for instance, ma}' 

 be kept emploj^ed with a fair profit, but with the present i)rices the 

 fitting out of expensive new vessels can scarcelj^ meet with a large 

 return on capital invested. The present equipment of menhaden 

 steamers and factories was built and paid for during a period of 

 prosperity, when menhaden oil was high in jDrice, and they may be 

 continued in service with profit, but the conditions are not encour- 

 aging for a great extension of the industry. If a profitable market 

 conld l)e found for the product, the yield of fish oils throughout the 

 world could probably be increased many times its jpresent extent. 



THE WHALE OILS. 



BRIEF REVIEW OF THE WHALING INDUSTRIES. 



It is scarcely' within the province of the present report to enter into 

 a detailed history of the whale fisheries, unquestionably the most 

 picturesque and once the most extensive of all marine industi-ies of 

 the world. In order, however, to present a fair idea of the produce 

 tion and utilization of whale oils, it is desirable to review briefly the 

 history and present conditions of these industi-ies. 



Whales are divisible into two groups, (1) toothed whales and (2) 

 bonc-l>eariug or whalebone whales. To the first group belongs tlui 

 sperm whale or cachalot, which yields sperm oil, spermaceti, ivory, 

 and ainbei-gris. This group also includes the bottle-nose whale, the 



