52 COMMISSION OF CONSERVATION 



has been recently paid for sturgeon in the New York markets, and 

 the weight ranges from 20 up to 100 pounds. 



Then there is a fish, which is not at all utilized, called 



Ji'l-Y^fH"^®'^ the wolf-fish or sea-cat. There are two forms of this 

 or oea-cat 



fish, Anarhichas lupus and A. latifrons, the latter the 

 more northerly form. The fish run from fifteen to fifty pounds in 

 weight, a not exactly eel-like but long fish, quite big and heavy, with 

 perfectly white flesh, whiter than halibut, flaky and delicious. I remem- 

 ber thirty years ago a Scotch fisherman telling me that he had eaten it 

 and it was the best fish that swam. No one who has eaten it will deny 

 that it is very superior. Great quantities of this are caught on our 

 coast and thrown away. I was at Clark Harbour, Nova Scotia, and 

 saw a number of these lying on the wharf, as they were considered 

 absolutely of no value. They are exceedingly good fish, and in the 

 British market — which is the most particular market there is — the 

 wolf-fish is now being sold, although the head is removed and I 

 fancy it is called a very superior cod. 



Respecting the angler or goose-fish, it is also a very ugly 

 or Goose-fish fish, sometimes four or five feet in length. The tail 



portion, which is solid flesh, is very good. Deprived of 

 the head it also has been placed in recent years on the L,ondon market. 

 It brings a good price and is regarded as an excellent fish. 



The skate is another fish which is caught very plenti- 



SlM^^VSes ^"""y ^y °"'" fishermen but has never been utilized until 



recently. I know that one Digby fisherman last year 



shipped 30,000 pounds of skates' wings to the United States and there 



is a demand for more. 



In regard to this utilization of these lesser-known fish 

 Mother*of-eels ""^ ^^^ "°* valued, I may say that the staff at the bio- 

 logical station at St. Andrews, New Brunswick, have 

 for the last two or three seasons been trying on the mess table all kinds 

 of fish and you would be astonished at the result in the case of some 

 fish that people threw away and did not regard as edible at all. There 

 is one fish called the rock-eel or mother-of-eels, a greenish eel-like ani- 

 mal. It is viviparous, that is, produces its young alive, and is alto- 

 gether a peculiar fish. A large one may weigh a couple of pounds. We 

 found that the rock-eel (Zoarces) had white flesh of splendid flavour 

 and our staff declared it one of the best fish they had had on the 

 table. That is a fish that could be utilized ; there are great quantities 

 along the shores and it is a product the food value of which has not 

 been realized at all. 



