520 Roosevelt Wild Life Annals 



Economic Relations. As a source of human food, the Burbot appears to be 

 a fish of the future. Senseless prejudices against using it for the table exist in 

 many localities, which seem to be based largely upon its somewhat unfishlike 

 appearance and perhaps its unpleasant odor (Bensley, '15, p. 50). The flesh is, 

 however, not considered of poor quality by those who have given it a fair trial. 

 In some localities it is evidently not so good as it is in others, for Bean ('03, p. 

 704) says that the quality of the flesh appears to depend chiefly on the nature of 

 its habitat. In cold, northern waters it is probably best. It is considered a good 

 fish in Maine and New Hampshire (Kendall and Goldsborough, '08, p. 63). In 

 Montana, it is in great demand, and in the Yukon and other regions in the far 

 north the flesh is eaten by some people and the liver is considered a delicacy. 

 The roe is also used as food in parts of the North. In some localities the Burbot 

 is highly esteemed when caught through the ice (Bean, '03, p. 704; Nash, 08, 

 p. 104). There is said to be a good market for the Burbot in Chicago, which is 

 supplied by fishermen in the southern part of Lake Michigan. In many other parts 

 of the Great Lakes, fishermen are obliged to throw the fish away or feed it to hogs 

 for it is commonly considered worthless, e.xcept for the livers which are occa- 

 sionally eaten (Bean, '03, p. 703). Despite all this dislike for the Burbot its 

 fishery is of some importance. In the L^nited States in 1908, the catch amounted 

 to 326,000 pounds and was valued at $4,500 for that year (Durand, '11, p. jy). 



Jordan ( '8_', |i. ij')0) says that the flesh of the Burbot is fairly good, although 

 rather tnu^li ami lacking; in richness, ranking with that of the catfishes, but con- 

 sideralil}- better than that nf the suckers. Moore ('17, p. 2) considers the meat of 

 the Burbot to resemble that of the cod and the haddock. He gives thirteen recipes 

 for preparing it. Smith (92, p. 215) quotes Charles H. Strowger, of Nine-Mile 

 Point, New York, as saying: "I split open a dozen, rubbed them with salt, and 

 dried them in the sun. They dried quickly and became very hard and developed 

 the smell of codfish. When cooked they smelled and tasted like salt codfish, and 

 I have no doubt that by curing them in the same way that codfish are treated no 

 one but an expert could distinguish them from salt codfish, except from the shape 

 of the tail. As thousands of these fish are thrown away every day. it strikes me 

 that attention called to the question of curing them properly would result in con- 

 siderable addition to the earnings of our lake fishennen." 



That Burbots in Oneida Lake constitute an important supjily (if little used 

 human food, is very evident. The writers have been informed by tisiicrnien that 

 the species from this lake is very palatable, and it is very likely that it can be made 

 suitable for the table by some of the ways of preparing it (Moore, '17, p. 2). 

 Their predacious nature undoubtedly makes them detrimental to the production of 

 Perch, Pike Perch, black bass. Tullibees and other high grade fish in the lake. .A 

 fair trial, and advertisement of the edible qualities of the Burbot of Oneida Lake 

 may .serve to relieve the strain somewhat on a number of other and more highly 

 prized species. More studies on the food of the Burbot in Oneida Lake could 

 profitably be made. Possibly this fish is of some value in its destruction of lam- 

 preys, which it is known to feed upon in some regions (Bean, '03. 11. 703 i. 



The United .States Bureau of Fisheries has been urging the use of lUnbots 

 for food, through an extensive distributiim of lu-cmnniit- Circulars ( ;\l()ore, '17) 



