REPORT OF THE COMMISSIONER OF FISHERIES. 11 



ning purposes, and has a tannery for converting these into leather. 

 Another company has acquired a site at Edmunds, Wash., where it 

 plans to tan and finish into leather all kinds of aquatic hides, such as 

 sharks, whales, hair seals, etc. Other companies are experimenting 

 with these products and will later engage in the industry. 



Difficulty was at first experienced in removing the shagreen from 

 shark skins in a satisfactory manner. Suitable methods have now 

 been devised for doing this before the sharks are skinned and from the 

 cured skins as well, and the removal of the shagreen has also been 

 accomplished at the close of the tanning process. 



Following the Bureau's suggestions, all parts of the shark are now 

 being utilized. Besides using the skins for tanning into leather, the 

 valuable liver oil is extracted and marketed, the remainder of the 

 fish is converted into fertilizer or fish meal, and experiments are 

 in progress to develop suitable methods of preserving the flesh for 

 food purposes. The Washington Institute of Industrial Research 

 is cooperating with the Bureau to determine the fitness of shark, 

 grayfish, and skate-liver oil as a drying oil for making paint and 

 varnish. It is claimed that these products have sufficient value to 

 support the fishery, thus permitting excellent leather to be made 

 from the hides at low cost. 



According to the Bureau of Standards, which has been cooperating 

 with the Bureau of Fisheries in this work, fish leather such as that 

 made from shark skin has a more spongy and fibrous texture than 

 mammal leather. When pulled open at right angles to the surface, 

 it often exhibits a laminated structure similar in appearance to that 

 of a loosly-matted felt. Material is being assembled to enable that 

 bureau to determine more definitely the qualities of fish leather, such 

 as durability, pliability, porosity, water absorption, wearing qualities, 

 and to make further tests as to tensile strength. Tests made at 

 the Bureau of Standards of such samples as nave been submitted 

 indicate that fish leather usually possesses less strength than mammal 

 leather, such as calfskin or cowhide, but that it is soft and pliable 

 and has ample strength for many uses. As the industry grows it 

 is expected that special uses vnW be found, dependent upon the in- 

 herent differences of hides from different fishes. One such use to 

 which attention is being given is the emplojTnent of pieces of grayfish 

 skin in place of the usual clip or fastener on garters, tne small aenticles 

 catching in the wel)l)ing of the stocking. 



Leathers of excellent appearance ana quality are now heing made 

 from porpoise hides, ana it is believed that hereafter the skins of 

 these animals will be utilized, not wasted. 



As the hides of the sharks give the greatest promise because of size, 

 abundance, and quality, the Bureau is continuing to devote special 

 attention to the development of the shark fishery and to determining 

 definitely the properties of the various products and the uses to 

 which they are best adapted. It has been the practice of fishermen 

 to operate most intensively for those fishes for which the demand is 

 greatest and to permit such predatory forms as the sharks, possessing 

 little or no value, to multiply and to increase their depreciations upon 

 the more highly prized forms. This is an added reason for the devel- 

 opment of a fishery for sharks and of uses for the products. 



