20 FISHERY INDUSTRIES OF THE UNITED STATES. 



amount includes cod oil, 1,152,252 gallons, valued at $1,107,221; cod- 

 liver oil, 235,805 gallons, valued at $665,080; herring and other fish 

 oils, 542,112 gallons, valued at $437,836; sealoil, 23,121 gallons, valued 

 at $21,598; sperm oil, 124,747 gallons, valued at $124,511; and 

 other whale oil, 521,035 gallons, valued at $572,747. The exports 

 of fish oils in 1919 amounted to 1,085,551 gallons, valued at $976,831. 

 Of this amount 526,980 gallons, valued atl5401,466 went to England; 

 409,122 gallons, valued at $353,221 to Scotland; and 59,722 gallons, 

 valued at $70,309 to Canada. 



FISH SCRAP AND MEAL. 



The estimated production of fish and whale scrap and meal in 

 1920 was 130,000 tons, a material increase over previous years. Of 

 this amount, 16,898 ^ tons are credited to the racific Coast States 

 and Alaska. On the west coast, as a result of the heavy demand for 

 fertilizer material, more than the usual amount of scrap was used for 

 this purpose. In the menhaden industry of the Atlantic coast, the 

 value of the Bureau's assistance in encouraging the production of 

 fish meal has been greatly appreciated. At least 5,000 tons of meal 

 was turned out by the producers in 1920 and considerable quantities 

 of ungiound scrap are reported as sold to manufacturers interested in 

 supplying stock feeds. The Bureau of Animal Industry of the De- 

 partment of Agriculture has continued its ho^-feeding tests, using 

 various fish meals, and samples have been supplied to some 15 State 

 experiment stations with satisfactory results. The experiments in 

 progress include the feeding of meal of high oil content, samples 

 without removal of natural oil with additional oil added, and meal 

 made from decomposed fish. If these tests yield satisfactory results, 

 the producers of fish meal should be reasonably assured of markets 

 for their product as soon as the farmers have become acquainted 

 with the merits of this commodity. The whaling companies have 

 recently expressed an interest in the manufacture of whale meal 

 and have provided material for a feeding test. 



Considerable qiiantities of fish v/aste and waste fish incident to the 

 New England fislieries remain unutilized, and in some cases its dis- 

 posal is an item of no little expense to the producer. Lack of a regu- 

 lar supply makes the operation of the larger reduction plants im- 

 practicable, and the smaller plants appear to be not wholly satisfac- 

 tory for the proper reduction of some of the raw materials in greatest 

 abundance. The Bureau appreciates the need of solving the prob- 

 lems of this field and hopes to be in position to take them up in the 

 near future. 



FISH LEATHER. 



Notwithstanding the increase in the usual supplies of materials for 

 tanning into leather, the possibilities of employing the hides of 

 sharks and other unutilized agnatic animals continues to attract 

 attention, and the number of inquiries for detailed information is 

 lar^e. Several companies are interested in developing^ the industry 

 and in the establishment of fisheries for these forms. The Bureau of 



6 See Pacific Fisherman Yearbook, January, 1921, p. 105-106. 



