228 KEPOKT OF COMMISSIONER OF FISH AND FISHERIES. 



aud its capture gives employmeut to a large iinniber of small vessels, 

 manned liy 6 or 8 men each. The American vessels fishing for hump- 

 back whales on that coast have occasionally engaged in its capture 

 when whales were not in sight. Capt. George O. Baker, of New 

 Bedford, reports that on one occasion in two days' fishing he secured 

 125 barrels of shark oil while on the lookout for humpback whales. 



The method of taking this fish ofl: the Peruvian coast, according to 

 Captain Baker, is to approach it while it is Ijdng motionless at the 

 surface of the water and to fasten a harpoon in the top of the head 

 forward of the eyes, so as to hold the head up and thus prevent the 

 fish from going down or "sounding," and then the boat approaches 

 and lances it until it is quite dead. It is taken alongside the vessel, a 

 hole is cut in one side of the abdomen, a strap inserted on either side of 

 the incision and the tail hoisted up so as to raise the body somewhat 

 out of the water. A man then enters the abdominal cavity and with 

 a knife cuts out the liver in pieces. These are passed up on deck, 

 minced, as in the case of whale blubber, and placed in the try-pots. 

 After a sufiicient length of time the cooked liver-pieces are removed 

 from the pot, placed in a canvas or hempen bag, suspended from aloft, 

 and permitted to drain. Nothing but the oil is saved. A considerable 

 market for it exists in South America, where it is used principally as 

 a body for i)aints for exterior surfaces. The price is usually 8 or 10 

 cents per gallon more than that of humpback oil. 



The basking shark is taken occasionally on the California coast, the 

 individual yield of oil there averaging about 125 gallons. The same 

 species is also said to be taken in the waters of British India, being 

 harpooned in great numbers by the fishermen of Karachi and other 

 coastal districts. 



The common dog-fish (Squalus) of the Atlantic coast and a similar 

 species on the Pacific coast are the principal oil-yielding sharks in 

 America. These fish range from 2 to 5 feet in length and from 5 to 

 15 pounds in weight. They are the great pest of fishermen, destroy- 

 ing nets, robbing fish from the trawls, and committing other depre- 

 dations. 



It does not appear that any important fisheries are organized espe- 

 cially for the capture of these fish, but many are taken incidentally in 

 the shore and Georges cod fisheries, particularly during the spring, 

 and the livers are extracted and thrown in the liver-butts along with 

 those of other fish. The livers are generally of a bluisli-gray color, 

 shaped somewhat like those of cod or pollock and are very brittle, 

 breaking readily when lifted. 



In Boston and Gloucester dog-fish livers are sold at the same rate as 

 those of cod and r«^lated species — viz, 25 to 30 cents per bucket of 2| 

 gallons. The yield of oil during August, September, and October is 

 about (J quarts per ])ucket, but at other seasons it is much smaller. 



Because of the small quantity secured, this oil is rarely kept separate^ 

 from cod oil for currying purposes, and it sells for about the same 



