NUTRITIVE VALUE OF FISH AND SHELLFISH 



505 



research on the compositioa of a certain class of food materials, and 

 in completeness and thoroughness has never been surpassed by any 

 investigations on American fishery products. Table 2 gives a highly 

 condensed summary of the composition of the edible portions of the 

 more common American fishes which Atwater analyzed in the fresh 

 condition. 



Table 2.- 



-Chemical composition and food value of some typical American 

 fishes, etc. 



Species 



Fuel 



value per 



pound 



Alewife , 



Bass, black 



Bass, red 



Bass, sea 



Bass, striped 



Bluefish 



Buffalo fish 



Butterflsh 



Catfish 



Ciscoe 



Cod -- 



Cusk 



Eels, salt water 



Eulachon (Columbia Kiver smelt)... 



Flounder 



Haddock 



Hake 



Halibut 



Herring 



Kingflsh,. 



Mackerel. 



Mullet 



Perch, white 



Perch, yellow 



Pickerel, pike 



Pollock 



Pompano 



Porgy 



Red grouper 



Bed snapper _. 



Salmon, Atlantic 



Salmon (Atlantic), landlocked, spent 



Salmon, Chinook, California 



Shad 



Sheepshead 



Smelt 



Spanish mackerel. 



Sturgeon 



Trout, brook 



Trout, salmon, Atlantic 



Weakflsh 



Whitefish 



Whale meat (mammsd) 



Calories 

 570 

 4.55 

 335 

 390 

 465 

 410 

 430 

 800 



1.135 

 630 

 325 

 325 

 730 

 718 

 290 

 335 

 315 

 565 

 660 

 390 

 645 

 555 

 530 

 380 

 370 

 435 

 665 

 560 

 335 

 410 

 950 

 470 



1,080 

 750 

 530 

 405 

 705 

 415 

 445 

 765 

 430 

 700 

 607 



In glancing over Table 2 it is evident that there is a considerable 

 variation in the composition and food value of the different species of 

 fish. For instance, a typical lean fish like the cod may run as low in 

 fat content as two to four-tenths of 1 per cent, the percentage of 



Erotein not running particularly high in this case and the fuel value 

 eing only 325 calories. At the other extreme we may take a popular 

 fresh-water fish in the Middle West, like the catfish, and find that 

 the percentage of fat in this case is 20.6, while the percentage of 

 protein is 14.4 and the total fuel value 1,135 calories per pound. 

 Most of the other common fresh and salt-water fishes will fall in 

 between these extreme limits of variation. 



There are two considerations that should be mentioned in connec- 

 tion with the composition of fish, as they will run through all tables 



