Shark Treasures 187 



stricted to turning out war vessels, the rule was lifted to permit the 

 building of boats to go after sharks. And, as more and more sharks were 

 caught under the inspiration of war and profit-making, more and more 

 was learned, not only about vitamin A but also about the shark family 

 itself. 



Vitamin A came close to being labeled a panacea. It was found to 

 stimulate growth, increase resistance to infection, aid in combatting fever 

 and colds, and prevent excessive dryness of the skin. Not every shark's 

 liver was packed with vitamin A. The potency, measured in U.S. Phar- 

 macopoeia units, varied from 35 units to 43,000,000 units. The variance 

 ranged from shark to shark and from species to species. 



West Coast fishermen, for the most part, threw away all but the 

 liver, though canny Chinese traders usually managed to get the fins, 

 which they sold at premium prices. Under Borden's aegis, however, a 

 profit was made on virtually every ounce of the shark. The fins M^ere 

 cut off and sold to shark fin buyers for as much as $6 a set. On this 

 sideline alone, Borden sometimes made $3,000 to $5,000 a month. The 

 teeth of some sharks were sold to costume jewelers. The entire jaws of 

 big sharks were sometimes dried, preserved, and sold to would-be 

 game fishermen. These jaws, as a Borden spokesman diplomatically put 

 it, "found their way into trophy rooms on plaques with brass plates 

 which could be inscribed at will." 



Some of the sharks' hides were tanned into leather. Prime shark meat 

 was cut into steaks, frozen, and shipped to countries, primarily in South 

 America, where there was, and is, no prejudice against eating shark. 

 Less palatable meat went to Borden's Special Products Division, where it 

 was used in poultry and livestock feed preparations. What was left of 

 the shark was ground up for commercial fertilizer. 



The abundance of sharks in the Caribbean, and the profits that could 

 be made from the shark's many products, soon came to the attention of 

 the U.S. Department of State, which, as World War II neared its end, 

 was concerned about the post-war economic problems of underdeveloped 

 countries. The Anglo-American Caribbean Commission published and 

 distributed to Caribbean fishermen a handbook on shark fishing. The 

 booklet told fishermen how to identify and catch sharks, how to skin 

 and process shark hides, and how to make a profit on shark liver, meat, 

 fins, and even teeth. "Good-sized, sound sharks' teeth and sharks' jaws 

 and backbones, either cleaned or made into novelty items," the booklet 

 said, "have always been in demand by tourists." 



Cojimar, Cuba, the setting of Hemingway's classic. The Old Man 

 and The Sea, was one of many places on the Gulf of A4exico where 

 small "shark factories" sprang up. Most of the money came from liver 

 oil, which was distilled in the factories by a simple method. Livers, 



