686 MARINE PRODUCTS OF COMMERCE 



where the Indians of the Passamaquoddy and Micmac tribes captured several 

 thousand porpoises yearly and marketed the oil for lamps and lubricants; but 

 with the advent of petroleum the industry gradually died out. A similar fishery 

 was also carried on sporadically throughout the New England area (Ward, 1880; 

 Gilpin, 1876; and Leighton, 1937). Today porpoises are captured for commercial 

 purposes only in Greenland and Japan. 



Neophocoena phocoenoides (finless porpoise) ranges from the Cape of Good 

 Hope along the coast of the Indian Ocean, and thence up the Asiatic Coast to 

 Japan; but it is fished only in Japan, where, however, the annual catch is not 

 known. 



Fhocoenoides dalli and truei (white-bellied porpoises) are found in the North 

 Pacific. P. dalli is the common porpoise of inshore waters of our northwest coast 

 from California to the Aleutians and as far as Japan. It is not fished, except occa- 

 sionally in Japan, though possibilities for a fishery exist elsewhere. It is about 5 feet 

 in size and weighs 150 pounds. P. tniei of Japan is captured regularly as a part 

 of the porpoise and dolphin fishery. 



Suborder Mysticeti: Baleen (whalebone) whales 



Family Balaenopteridae : Finners, rorquals (grooved throats and dorsal fin) 



Balaenoptera acutorostrata (pygmy finner, least rorqual, sharp-headed finner, 

 minke whale, etc. ) is the smallest species of the well-known finners, the size rarely 

 exceeding 30 feet. As a result it is not taken by the ordinary whaling industry; 

 in fact it is whaled regularly only in Norway, Japan, and Newfoundland. The 

 blubber is not thick, and consequently the main product is meat. The species is 

 world-wide in distribution, and common in the Antarctic, where in time it may 

 be taken by the southern nations which are able to completely utilize the carcass. 

 The International Whaling Regulations do not require reports on the capture of 

 this species. United States whaling regulations fix the legal minimum size length 

 at 22 feet, but the industry has never reported any captures. 



Balaenoptera borealis (the sei whale, pollock whale, etc.) is about 40 to 55 feet 

 in size; but it is not a good oil yielder, and is taken mainly by the whale-meat 

 eating nations, such as Norway and Japan. The sei whale is noted for the silkiness 

 of the fringe of its baleen. International Whaling Regulations have fixed the 

 minimimi length as 40 feet; however, those of 35 feet can be taken for local 

 human and animal consumption. 



Balaenoptera brydei (Bryde's whale) is the size of the sei, but has some of the 

 characteristics of the common finback. It is taken off South Africa and the Iberian 

 peninsula at the shore stations. Elsewhere it has been recorded from the West 

 Indies and Gulf of Guayaquil. It is not important. Regulations of the sei whale 

 apply specifically also to Bryde's whale. 



Balaenoptera phy solus (common finback, finner, razorback, etc.) is the main- 

 stay of the whaling industry today, even though it yields less oil than the hump- 

 back and blue whales, both of which it has replaced in the world's catch. From 

 the Arctic to the Antarctic and from Norway to Japan the finback is the com- 

 mon whale of the industry. It will probably maintain this position on account of 

 its hardiness as a species and versatility in its food and habitat. It ranges in size 

 from 55 to 80 feet, the minimum legal limit being 55 feet; while 50 feet is 

 the limit when the meat is to be used for human or animal consumption. 



