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WASTE OF FOOD FISHES. 



BY L. D. HUNTINGTON, EX-PRESIDENT OF THE NEW YORK 

 FISH COMMISSION. 



The yearl}^ waste of food fish along our coast is a 

 subject deserving the consideration of all interested in 

 the supply of healthful food. The subject should espe- 

 cially receive the careful attention of the citizens of 

 the seaboard states. The waste from the indiscrimi- 

 nate use of the purse net b}^ the menhaden fishermen, 

 along our coast from Maine to North Carolina, 

 demands proper attention and careful consideration. 

 This industry, the products of which are guano and 

 oil (from fish), is one of considerable importance; it is 

 organized under the title of the "United States Men- 

 haden Oil and Guano Association," with a capital of 

 about two million dollars, employing from two thousand 

 to twenty-five hundred men, with annual products of 

 about five or six hundred thousand dollars in guano, 

 and about four hundred thousand dollars in oil, the 

 capital, number of men employed, and value of prod- 

 ucts varying somewhat yearl}^ ; this enterprise should 

 receive proper consideration as a business venture, but 

 not be allowed to trespass upon the rights and privileges 

 of the citizens of the seaboard states, by wasting the 

 food products of the waters of the coast by converting 

 them into guano. In the prosecution of their business 

 (catching menhaden with purse nets) they not only 



