62 COMMISSION OF CONSERVATION 



branch of the fish trade, because some ten or fifteen years ago I was 

 engaged with Herr Jafife, head of the German Hanoverian fisheries, in 

 investigating niethods of utilizing the fish waste at Wilhelmshaven and 

 other places in Germany. They have developed an enormous industry 

 in the creation of fish meal. I was the first man to take it up in Eng- 

 land. It was a fish food for fish-culture establishments. About fifteen 

 years ago I recommended Dr. Hugh Smith and Mr. Ravenal and two or 

 three of the United States fish culturists to experiment with it, and I 

 believe they did. The dog-biscuit manufacturers, including Spratt's and 

 other well-known firms took it up. Then it was taken up by the 

 pig-food manufacturers to replace tankage. We know the cost of 

 tankage in this country is very high, and the average farmer is rather 

 frightened of it. Fish meal can be put on the market a good deal 

 cheaper and, I think, is of the same, if not higher, protein value and 

 probably of better oil value. The possibility of its tainting the flesh has 

 been urged, but I am rather inclined to think that it does not do so, if 

 properly mixed with other materials and treated only as a concentrate. 

 The great problem we found in Germany in connection with the treat- 

 ment of fish offals was that there was a stage in the drying when we 

 found our protein value disappearing. Therefore there is, no doubt, 

 a good deal of practical knowledge to be acquired in that direction. 

 I would like to know how far experiments have been conducted here, 

 so that I may gain an idea to what extent they may be used by farmers 

 in stock-raising. 



Prop. Prince : In reply to Mr. Feilding I may say that there has been 

 really no systematic attempt to produce fish meal in Canada. Two 

 experimental efforts were made ten or' twelve years ago. I instructed 

 certain hatchery officers to procure the flesh of a number of suckers, 

 an inferior kind of fish found in some of our rivers and to produce a 

 dried material, powdered, for the purpose of feeding fry. Some of 

 this meal was used at the Restigouche hatchery, on the famous salmon 

 river of that name, and I believe it was a brilliant success. The officer 

 there, an able man, well calculated to carry out the experiment success- 

 fully, reported that the fish seemed to flourish on it and he thought it 

 better than liver to feed to the young fry when they were being reared 

 to the fingerling stage. Recently an experiment was made at the 

 reduction works to produce fish meal from cod and other fish, but the 

 lack of technical knowledge will probably prevent success in that par- 

 ticular case. I examined some of the fish meal produced and could 

 not regard it as satisfactory. With these two exceptions the fish-meal 

 industry has not been developed at all in Canada. 



