HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN MENHADEN. 465 



34. A purse-net ; alfhough they are caught in large quantities fre- 

 quently in the summer season with long seines. These seines are used 

 for catching the more edible species of fish, and when "alewives" are 

 caught by these seines they are left to rot on the shore. 



42. These fish are caught about the entrance of the capes or in Ches- 

 apeake Bay, put on board of the small schooners employed in this busi- 

 ness, and thence taken to the factories, where the oil of the fish is ex- 

 tracted and the refuse manufactured into fish guano or fertilizer. 



43. At the present time there are no factories for the manufacture of 

 fish-oil in this neighborhood. A factor}- for this purpose was in opera- 

 tion some two years ago, but it has since been consumed by fire. 



58. There does not seem to be any diminution in the quantity of these 

 fish, and thousands of bushels are annually destroyed on this coast by 

 the seines used in catching the more edible fish that supply our markets. 

 They might be used to good advantage in manuring the land in the 

 surrounding country, but the difidculty of transporting them to lands 

 used for agricultural purposes is so great that they are left on the beach 

 to rot. 



65. Statement of G. G. Manning, Edenton, N. C, January G, 1875. 



I have the honor to acknowledge the receipt of your circular-letter 

 under date of December 23, 1874, making inquiries relative to the fish 

 known in our vicinity as fat-back or bug-fish, and in reply thereto I 

 would state I have conversed with several of the leading fishermen on 

 the xVlbemarle Sound and its tributaries, and they report very few of 

 that class of fish caught during fishing season. Those which are caught 

 are disposed of by being thrown in with the offal or refuse fish, after- 

 ward used upon their lands in a raw state as fertilizers. 



The fishermen attribute the scarcity of that species of fish in the upper 

 part of the sound to the freshness of the water. I have been unable to 

 obtain any information from the lower part of the sound, where the 

 water is brackish or salt. 



1. Bug-fish. 



2. They are very scarce. 



3. Diminished. 



G6. /Statement of A. W. Simpson, jr., Cape Hatteras, N. C, Aprill5, 1874.* 



1. Fatback. 



2. It is not found throughout the year. It makes its appearance in 

 June and leaves in December. 



3. It is not resident. 



*The numbers of thia communication refer to the general circular published in the 

 first volume of the report of the Commissioner. 



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