PRQGRESS IN BIOLOGICAL INQUIRIES, 1926 S023 
and abroad and publish its findings for the information of the industry 
at large. 
Before tackling the problem of waste utilization I would like to commend 
the bureau's interest in the maintenance of the quality of fresh fish from the 
time it is caught to the time it is placed on the consumer’s plate. <A great 
deal happens to a perfectly good fish within that period. In many cases it is 
sorely abused by exposure to sun and air, from pitchforks, and through general 
rough handling. These things are responsible for heavy losses to fishermen 
and dealers, and also, to a great extent, for the public apathy toward fish as 
a food. I have yet to find the person who does not enjoy a piece of strictly 
fresh fish, well cooked ; but the quality of much of the fish marketed nowadays 
is not appetizing. The Bureau of Fisheries is investigating this very impor- 
tant problem. The publication of its recommendations for the better handling 
of fresh fish is going to be very helpful to the industry. 
The freezing of fish presents numerous problems. One of these (the dis- 
eoloration of fresh haddock fillets in cold storage) has proved an obstacle to 
the expansion of the frozen-fillet trade. Harden F. Taylor made a special 
study of this matter in connection with his firm’s work in that line and claims 
to have oyercome the trouble. However, all fish dealers are not able to engage 
the services of scientists like Mr. Taylor, and they look to the Government 
bureaus for help and advice. Every man in the fish business would like to 
learn the best method for freezing fish and maintaining its quality without 
deterioration. Packing frozen fish for shipment presents another interesting 
field for investigation, and this, too, might be made the subject of a survey 
by the Bureau of Fisheries. 
Taking up the second subject, viz, the utilization of inedible fish and fish 
waste, the present-day waste, not only of fish but of time and effort, in the fish 
business is appalling. Those of you here who have been to sea with the 
fishermen can testify to the enormous quantity of so-called “trash” and 
“ourry” that is thrown overboard. This waste occurs in almost every branch 
of the fisheries. It should be remembered that it costs just as much to catch 
a dogfish, monkfish, or skate at it does to catch a cod, haddock, or halibut, 
and it is the discarding of these inedible and unmarketable species that adds 
to the cost of the fish that are marketed. 
Fishing can be made a really profitable business when everything that the 
fisherman takes in his nets or on his hooks can be taken to port and marketed. 
Many fine, edible fish are cast back into the sea because there is no market for 
them. This is not right. We must make a market for them. I believe that 
filleting is going to help in providing an outlet for the unpopular varieties, 
because filleting will conceal their idenity and they will gain favor from their 
flavor and not from their original appearance. Good, edible varieties, of repul- 
sive appearance in the round (such as cusk, wolf fish, ling, skate, monkfish and 
others), skinned and filleted will hold their own in flavor and appearance 
with any of the popular varieties. 
But that is something that will follow expansion of the trade in fillets. 
We have a real problem in trying to create ways and means for utilizing the 
inedible fish and the waste from dressed fish. Fish meal, fertilizers, glue, 
oil, and other products can be manufactured from such waste, but efforts to 
develop this angle of the fisheries have been somewhat slow. There are fish- 
reduction plants on the market, for most of which the claim is made that they 
can do the work. Experiments made with some of them, howeyer, have proven 
that they are useful only with certain classes of fish. Other plants are too 
costly and complicated, while some are barred from many of the fishing centers 
because of the odor from them while in operation. 
Here, again, is a field of investigation for Government bureaus. An investi- 
gation and report that will advise fishermen and vessel owners how to take 
- eare of the gurry and waste fish on board their vessels, and which will deter- 
mine the kind of appartus suitable for the manufacture of fish waste into useful 
products and the possible market for such products, will be of inestimable 
value to the fishing industry. The necessity for action along this line is most 
urgent. The costs of operating a fishing vessel or a fishery are increasing every 
year. The unit of investment is becoming greater, but the price received for 
the fish is not keeping pace. The fishermen are not receiving an adequate 
return for their labor in many fisheries, and if nothing is done to make their 
work more remunerative we will have no fishermen. The native American 
dropped out of the fisheries long ago; the Canadians and Newfoundlanders 
