36 AMERICAN FISHERIES SOCIETY. 



Regarding the value of this porpoise fishery, it may be said to 

 be quite important. It has been calculated that each porpoise 

 as it lies upon the beach is worth $25. If such an estimate be 

 correct, it is not difficult to understand that the conversion of 

 its oil and skin into objects of commercial use would add con- 

 siderably to this sum. If the company captures 3,000 or 4.000 a 

 year, the first value of the product to the company will, accord- 

 ing to the figures, be $100,000. Of course this value would be 

 greatly enhanced when the products were manufactured into 

 objects of use. For a single fishery this is by no means a small 

 sum. The success of this company will probably have an im- 

 portant bearing upon the formation of other similar companies 

 in the future. 



I can see no reason why the pursuit of an animal so easy to 

 capture, and from which marketable articles of such undoubt- 

 edly high grade can be obtained, should not be profitable to the 

 fishermen. Of course there are certain prejudices to be re- 

 moved ; but if the company shows a fair amount of persistence, 

 I see no reason why their labors should not be crowned with 

 great financial success. — Was/iiiigion, D. C. 



Mr. GooDE — I should like to say a word or two about the 

 products to be obtained from the porpoise. It seems to me that 

 the possibilities of this fishery are very great, provided that the 

 number of animals caught is sufficient to make it worth while 

 bringing them into the markets. As regards the food value of 

 the porpoise, I would say that I have tasted the Norwegian 

 whale product — a whale hermetically sealed in tin cases at the 

 London Fisheries Exhibition in 1883, and really it had in some 

 way been divested of its oily taste, and resembled beef a la mode. 

 It seems possible, therefore, that some method may be found for 

 removing the oily taste from the porpoise flesh. As to the 

 value of the oil it is undoubtedly so far superior to any other 

 animal oil, that I cannot doubt its coming into general use for 

 lubricating purposes, as soon as it can be sold for a reasonable 

 price. At present twenty-five . cents is charged for a bottle 

 hardly larger than one's little finger, and I am not aware that 

 any of the oil is put on the market in a cheaper form. The 

 leather made from the skin of the porpoise is held in high 



