﻿44 BULLETIN 2, U. S. DEPAKTMENT OF AGRICULTUKE. 



The menhaden commonly are regarded as nonedible fish. The 

 fishermen, when asked why the menhaden are not edible, reply that 

 the}' are " too boney " or " too oily " ; others acknowledge that the 

 menhaden, when freshly caught arid properly cooked, have as good 

 a flavor as any other fish. It is true that choicer fish are usually at 

 hand and are chosen at the expense of the menhaden, and in that 

 sense they are not edible. In short, it appears undoubtedly true that 

 they are edible and palatable, but are not as choice as a number of 

 other fish usually to be had, and therefore as a usual thing they are 

 not eaten. At times they have appeared in the fish markets of the 

 East and have brought prices comparable with those fetched by other 

 fish recognized as food fish. 



In former years it has been the practice among the people inhabit- 

 ing the coastal sections of the United States to preserve a number 

 of barrels of menhaden in salt for home consumption. At times 

 salted menhaden have been prepared in fairly large quantities for 

 exportation and as a sort of substitute for salt mackerel. This has 

 been true especially in seasons of scarcity of other fish. The sta- 

 tistics of the Bureau of Fisheries of 1905 covering the fishing activi- 

 ties of the ISTew England States show that only 8,600 menhaden, 

 valued at $252, were salted during that year ; these were in the State 

 of Massachusetts. Smith 1 has stated that 25,000 menhaden were 

 salted for their own use by the crews of two steamers of the men- 

 haden fleet of 1895. It is presumable that this was not peculiar to 

 these two steamers alone and that a similar practice was in vogue to 

 a proportionate extent on the other 54 steamers and 28 sailing vessels 

 in use that year. 



Menhaden have been prepared as sardines and have been declared 

 a complete success when so used. It has been demonstrated that a 

 meat extract can be prepared from their flesh equal in flavor and 

 nutritive value to the well-known extract of beef. While this fact 

 has been known for many years, the process of extraction so far has 

 failed of development on a commercial scale. The extract is said to 

 equal 20 per cent of the weight of the fish. The expressed flesh and 

 the oil are obtainable as by-products, the former for fertilizer pur- 

 poses and the latter for the uses to which it is now applied. In 

 short, past experience has shown that the menhaden are available as 

 food fish to be used fresh, where marketable, for preserving in oil as 

 sardines, or in salt, as mullets and herring art now preserved, or as 

 a source of meat extract, as the exigencies of the food supply should 

 demand. 



At present there is no indication that the consumption of men- 

 haden for food for man is on the increase. 



1 Notes on an Investigation of the Menhaden Fishing in 1894, \yith Special Reference 

 to the Food Fishes Taken. Bull. U. S. Fish Comm., 1895, p. 285. 



