Shark-Eating Men 167 



separate one area's "fish" in fish 'n' chips from another area's "fish." 

 Cod seems to cut across all geographical lines. Hake is used in the shops 

 of Lancashire and South Wales; haddock is preferred in Leeds and in 

 the industrial areas of Yorkshire; small haddock appears in Scottish 

 shops. In London and the south of England, skate and dogfish still 

 reign supreme, however. In Ireland, the fleshy "wings" of skates and 

 rays are the mainstays of fish 'n' chips shops. 



For many years, Italy imported Porbeagle sharks from Scandinavia. 

 When Benito iMussolini rose to power, however, he forbade the import- 

 ing of alien sharks, apparently because he did not want Italians disparaged 

 as shark-eaters. Despite II Duce's edict, Norwegian and Danish sharks 

 were smuggled into Italy. Nowadays, although some 60 species of sharks, 

 skates, and rays can be found in Italian waters, the Italians are once 

 more importing Scandinavian sharks. A4ost of the Norwegian and Danish 

 catch of Porbeagle shark {Lamna nasus)— over 1,000,000 pounds a year- 

 is iced and shipped to Italy. 



Norway, which has solved the problem of preserving fresh shark, 

 has a long list of customers for its millions of pounds of sharks, skates, 

 and rays. Norwegian exports of selachians for January to June, 1961, 

 included more than 4,000,000 pounds of dogfish to Great Britain and 

 Northern Ireland and about 2,000,000 pounds more to Sweden, Belgium, 

 Holland, Luxembourg, France, Italy, and West Germany. Another 

 5,000,000 pounds of frozen dogfish were sold to most of these countries, 

 along with East Germany, Czechoslovakia, and Austria. Norway also 

 exported some 500,000 pounds of skates and rays during that six-month 

 period. 



Norway has perfected a process for preserving dogfish and keeping 

 them in nearly perfect condition for long periods of time. The sharks 

 are cleaned and the belly walls are cut away. They are then packed in 

 boxes in an alginate jelly and placed in refrigerators at a temperature of 

 — 15°C. for 24 to 36 hours. The fish are frozen solid, but the jelly is 

 not. The jelly forms a protective coating in which the fish may be 

 preserved indefinitely. The fish can thus be removed singly from the 

 packing boxes as they are sold. This is the first process that has enabled 

 packers to preserve shark in a fresh state. 



In Norway, the eggs of the dogfish {Squaliis acanthias) and of skates 

 are used in puddings as a substitute for hen's eggs. As a matter of fact, 

 the eggs of this dogfish contain more yolk than do hen's eggs. 



More than 2,500,000 pounds of shark were landed in Germany in 

 1959. Porbeagle sharks are sold in the markets at prices more than twice 

 as high as those for plaice (a flounder) and nearly four times higher 

 than cod. Other species of shark are among the cheapest fish, selling for 

 about the equivalent of a penny a pound, or slightly above the going 



