68 BULLETIN 150, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 



In this connection the opinion of the experts of the United States 

 Bureau of Fisheries is of interest: 



The concensus of opinion is that herring have been more numerous this 

 season in the water of Alaska, except in the Yes Bay section, than for a 

 number of years past. At no time heretofore has there been anything like an 

 alarming shortage, but as in the case of herring fishery the world over, there 

 are periodical lean and full years. It not infrequently happens that during 

 the poorer years alarmists give rise to the view that the supply of herring is 

 being diminished through ruthless fishing operations. Particularly has this 

 idea been directed toward the practice of utilizing herring in the manufacture 

 of fertilizer and oil. That this opinion is not borne out in fact has been clearly 

 established by careful and impartial analysis of the situation. So far as 

 Alaska is concerned, the destruction of countless millions of herring in embryo 

 by the natives, who use large quantities of impregnated eggs for food purposes, 

 is a more destructive agency than the use of the adult fish for fertilizer pur- 

 poses. Measures should be adopted to prohibit the natives from placing brush 

 on the spawning grounds by means of which they remove the eggs. 



The halibut fishermen are particularly interested in the herring situation, 

 because of the dependence of their industry upon the supply of herring for 

 bait. Much of the agitation as to the fertilizer and oil question has emanated 

 from this source. Unless future developments show radically different condi- 

 tions, as compared with other parts of the world where time has been the 

 infallible test, there will be not only enough herring in Alaska waters to meet 

 present-day needs, both for bait and fertilizer, but to permit of an expansion 

 along these lines, as well as a growth of the food-herring industry. 1 



In the face of the present successful opposition, however, it seems 

 scarcely reasonable to believe that there will be any further develop- 

 ment in the manufacture of fertilizer from herring. 



During the season of 1913 Alaska herring yielded 1,200 tons dried 

 fertilizer and 260,000 gallons of oil. For this purpose 57,800 barrels 

 of 200 pounds each of raw herring were rendered. 



TUNA. 



The canning of California tuna, or more properly, the Albicore, 

 is a development of only recent years. At present it is carried on 

 by about nine canneries in southern California, the center of the 

 industry being San Pedro. The output for the year 1913 amounts 

 to about 115,000 cases. 



The waste from the tuna is very large. The fish are dressed, as 

 caught, at sea and the waste thus produced is thrown overboard. 

 This represents about 20 per cent of the fish. After delivery at the 

 cannery it is cooked, when its weight decreases about 18 per cent, 

 due to loss in the removal of oil and soluble constituents. After 

 cooking, the bones, skin, and dark-colored flesh are removed, repre- 

 senting a further loss of about 32 per cent. The total loss from the 

 round weight of the fish to the finished product is about 70 per cent. 



1 From Bower and Fassett, loc. cit. 



