FISH MEAL AS A STOCK AND POULTBY FOOD. 19 



RAW MATERIAL AVAILABLE FOR FISH MEAL. 



There is already at hand a large amonnt of dried-fish product 

 called fish " scrap " or " pomace " now used for fertilizer purposes, the 

 marketing channel of which — or part of it, at least — could be turned 

 in the direction of the stock-food manufacturing industry instead 

 of into the fertilizer industry. This, however, can not be dene until 

 the product is prepared under conditions which would insure its 

 safe use for feeding purposes. As previously pointed out, the value 

 of this material as a fertilizer is not reduced by feeding it. 



The menhaden fish " scrap " industry and the salmon, sardine, and 

 tuna canning industries offer at the present time a large source of 

 supply of fish meal, approximating 120,000 tons annually. 



In 1912, 50,885 tons of dry fish fertilizer " scrap " and 37,536 tons 

 of acidulated ^ " scrap " were produced in the menhaden fish-scrap 

 industry.^ The amount that could be obtained from the waste in 

 the sardine industry will vary somewhat in different seasons. Assum- 

 ing that the entire waste material would be converted into fish meal, 

 it is estimated that from 2,000 to 4,000 tons per season could be pre- 

 pared. 



Thirty-five thousand to forty thousand tons per year of dry meal 

 could be obtained from the utilization of the waste of the Pacific 

 coast salmon canneries.^ 



Since the amount of waste in the salmon-canning industry that 

 could be made into fish meal for feeding purposes is, at the present 

 time, so far in excess of that of any other available supply, fish meal 

 from this industry should soon become of importance in supplying 

 the large western and middle-western area with this material. As 

 before mentioned, fish meal for stock-feeding purposes is now pre- 

 pared in limited quantities from the salmon-cannery waste. 



No figures are at hand for estimating the amount which could be 

 obtained from the tuna-canning industry or from the individual can- 

 neries of various fish products scattered throughout the country. 



In addition to the amount that may be obtained from these sources 

 a considerable quantity may be obtained from other fish not consid- 

 ered sufficiently good for food purposes, particularly the dogfish. 

 This fish, the destruction of which is so much desired by all classes 



1 This acidulated fish " scrap " Is prepared by adding sulphuric acid to the fresh 

 stock. It seems hardly necessary to state that a meal prepared from material so treated 

 should never be used for feeding animals. The prospective user should insist on a guar- 

 anty that sulohuric acid was not used in the preparation of meal or should have its 

 absence established before using the meal for feeding purposes. 



2 Greer, " The Menhaden Industry of the Atlantic Coast," Bureau of Fisheries Docu- 

 ment No. 811, p. 21. 



s Turrentine (U. S. Dept. Agr. Bull. 150, " Utilization of the fish waste of the Pacific 

 Coast for the manufacture of fertilzer") estimates the total waste as 140,210 tons of 

 raw material. By calculating on the basis of a 25 or 30 per cent yield of dry meal, the 

 above figures were obtained. 



