Millett. — Adequate Fish Inspection 161 



fish should arrive in splendid condition. They are really in the pink 

 of condition. 



Mr. Lawyer: What percentage of the catch is third-grade? 



Mr. Millett: I should say about one-fourth. 



Mr. Lawyer : This law will tend to eliminate third-grade fish ? 



Mr. Millett: Yes, for the table. 



Mr. Lawyer: And is that going to help increase the supply of fish? 



Mr. Millett: Surely; it is going to make the fisherman take better 

 care of his fish and make shorter trips. More salted fish will also be 

 brought in. 



Mr. Lawyer : What I was coming at was this : you will not con- 

 tinue to have third-grade fish. It is going to be made into fertilizers 

 and its value, whatever that may be, as a food product destroyed. 



Mr. Millett: When the fishing operation is properly carried on you 

 would not find more than a few thousand pounds of third-grade fish 

 in a 150,000 pound trip. These would naturally go to the fertilizer 

 people. 



Professor Prince: I would like to say one word from the Cana- 

 dian standpoint. I consider this one of the most practical and valuable 

 papers that we have. We have had much extremely valuable material 

 presented, but when it comes down to bed rock it is really, after all, 

 the consuming public that is the ultimate goal in the exploitation of 

 commercial fisheries. A prominent Canadian fish merchant said to 

 me: "I like fish, but if I get a poor fish I do not want to see fish on 

 my table again for another week." Now it is possible to put fish in 

 our markets in the very best condition. I think Mr. Millett's paper 

 really implies that. Of course, you cannot make good fish out of bad; 

 if the fish are not cared for in the first instance they cannot be im- 

 proved afterwards. Salting may save them but it does not make them 

 better. In many cases the inferiority of fish is due to the fact that when 

 salted they were not in good condition. There is no reason why we 

 in the United States and Canada should not have the very best quality 

 of fish, whether smoked or fresh. Mr. Millett puts everything in a 

 nutshell, and what he has given us will be of great value. In Canada 

 we are taking steps towards improvement in these matters, through our 

 Canned Fish Act, Preserved Fish Act, and so on, and we are trying 

 to bring about more efficient inspection. But of course it will be diffi- 

 cult to achieve the results desired until the fishermen realize the part 

 they must play. In that rests the secret of this whole business. 



Mr. Millett: We in Massachusetts feel that we are making a start 

 in this matter. We hope that other states and countries will go ahead 

 and help us out. 



Mr. Lawyer: Is it profitable for the fisherman to catch fish for 

 fertilizer? 



Mr. Millett: No, we do not catch fish for fertilizer; that is 

 furthest from the mind of any person who is engaged in the fishing 

 business. We catch third-grade fish for splitting and salting. 



