726 MARINE PRODUCTS OF COMMERCE 



By-Products. A reduction plant is operated on St. Paul Island, where about 

 80 per cent of the Pribilof fur seals are killed. The annual yield is about 350 tons 

 of meal and 17,000 gallons of oil. On the basis of past production records, each 

 fur seal taken yields about 4.25 pounds of blubber oil, 2.2 pounds of carcass oil, 

 and 12.6 pounds of meal. 



The carcasses are all delivered to the plant immediately after the skins have been 

 removed, and are never held more than one day before processing. Upon arrival, 

 they are dumped into a large hopper, from which a conveyor carries them to the 

 hog, where they are chopped into small pieces to promote quicker, more uniform 

 rendering. These pieces are carried by another conveyer to steam-jacketed center- 

 feed type melters, which are suitable for dry rendering at atmospheric pressure, 

 rendering under internal pressure, rendering under vacuum, or any combination 

 of the three. The dry-rendering process has given the best results and is currently 

 being used. A melter load is 200 carcasses. Melters are unloaded into large pans 



