18() KEroKT OF (H)MMlSSIO]Srp:R OF FISH AND FISHERIES. 



cxti'ciiK' limit, and tli(3 samo is possibly ii'uo of tlie st^ai lisluiries of 

 certain ri^iiions. llowever, tliere is |)i'<)ba])ly no otlior oil-yielding 

 fishery of Avliidi 1 lie same can l)e said. Sperm whales are moi-c nnmer- 

 ous than llu'y wei-e lifty years aiio, when the Tnited Slates employed 

 300 vessels in their capture, secnrinii; 100,0()(» barrels of oil annually, 

 as compared with the present i)ro<luct of less than i>(),()0() barrels. 

 Porpoise and other small cetaceans exist in such larg'c numbers that 

 liundreds of thousands if not millions of gallons of oil can be secured 

 from them. Only a very small percentage of the oil-yielding sharks 

 are utilized. Much greater quantities of menhaden might be taken 

 than are secured at present, and comparatively little of the abundant 

 waste fish and dressings or refuse from the markets, canneries, etc., 

 are used in oil-production. 



Tlie principal reason for this is that the present economic condi- 

 tions do not warrant an extension of these industries. The market 

 for fish oils is regulated by that of the mineral and vegetable prod- 

 ucts which are used as substitutes, and which can be sold at very low 

 l)rices, making it necessary to exercise verj^ great economy" in the 

 production of fish oils. Vessels, factories, etc., alreadj^ on hand ina,y 

 be used, but in the United States at least it is questionable Avhether 

 tlie building of new and costly equipment for oil-production would 

 prove ijrofitable under present market C(.)nditions except in specially 

 favorable instances, unless the closest economy be practiced. The 

 vessels composing the present sperm-whaling fleet, for instance, may 

 b(^ k<^[)t employed with a fair profit, but with the present prices the 

 fitting out of expensive new vessels can scarcely meet Avith a large 

 retui-n on capital invested. The present equipment of menhaden 

 steamers and factories was built and paid for during a period of 

 prosperity, when menhaden oil was high in price, and tliej^ niay be 

 continued in service with profit, but the conditions are not encour- 

 aging foi' a great extension of the industiy. If a profitable market 

 could be found for the product, the yield of fish oils throughout the 

 woi-ld could proba^ ly be increased manj^ times its present extent. 



THE WHALE OILS. 

 BRIEF REVIEW OF THE WHALING INDUSTRIES. 



It is scai'ccly within the province of the present report to enter into 

 a dctaiUnl hist(ny of the whale fisheries, unquestionably the most 

 pict iir('s<pic and once the most extensive of all niariiu> industries of 

 tlie world. In order, however, to present a fair idea of the produc- 

 tion and utilization of whale oils, it is desirable to review briefly the 

 histoiy and jiresent conditions of these industi'ies. 



Whales arc divisible into two groups, (1) toothed whah^s and (2) 

 bonc-l)caring or whalel)onc whales. To the fii'st group belongs tlu^ 

 si)crm whale or cachalot, which yields spei-m oil, sjxM'macct i, ivory, 

 an<l ambergris. Tliis group also inchuh,'. '^he bottle-nose whale, the 



