190 
BULLETIN OF THE UNITED STATES FISH COMMISSION. 
alewives in the manufacture of oil and guano; this was soon closed, however, owing 
partly to opposition to the use of the pound nets and partly to the growing deficiency 
of oil in the fish. 
Perhaps the most valuable purpose which alewives subserve in this region is that 
of supplying food for other fish. In their defenseless condition they fall a ready prey to 
bass, pike, pike perch, muskellunge, perch, trout, ciscoes, and other species, and in 
this way become really important factors in the growth and multiplication of other fish. 
Black bass eat alewives in large quantities, and when the former first arrive in the 
inshore waters in the spring they are almost invariably found filled with alewives. In 
certain places, but more especially at Oswego, both bass and pike perch have increased 
greatly since the alewives became abundant. Wall-eyed pike are reported to be par- 
ticularly fond of alewives, and u pickerel” ( Esox ) also feed on them to a considerable 
extent. At Oswego, New York, on August 19, a whole alewife, over half the length 
of its captor, was found in the stomach of a small pickerel. 
The value of the lake alewife as food for man should not be overlooked. Although 
of small size and bony, it is not without its champions among the lake fishermen, and 
it is occasionally eaten. It has no commercial value, however, at present, and will 
probably never be in demand as a fresh article of food; but the writer believes that it 
can be made to take a prominent place among the economic lake species if put on the 
market in a smoked condition. The alewife is similar in size to the sea herring so 
extensively used on the New England coast in preparing the most popular brands of 
smoked herring, and there does not seem to be any objection to its utilization in this 
way. 
The method of preparing the small sea herring on the coast of Maine is entirely 
applicable to the lake alewife and is, briefly, as follows : The fish, as taken from the 
water, are closely strung through their mouths and gills on smooth sticks about a 
yard in length, .after which they are immersed in a solution of common salt for the 
purpose of hardening and preserving them and of removing the scales ; they are then 
suspended in the smokehouse, where they are left until cured and well colored, and 
are afterwards arranged crosswise in boxes to the number of 50 to 75, when they 
are ready for sale. The boxes are made of soft wood and are quite inexpensive. The 
usual dimensions are 15 inches long, 7£ inches wide, and 4 inches deep. Sucba box 
holds about 5 pounds of smoked , fish. The best prepared “ cross ” herring usually 
have a ready market at from 15 to 20 cents a box, and the lake alewife would no doubt 
prove a satisfactory substitute and yield as good returns. 
One of the most interesting phases in the history of the alewives in Lake Ontario 
is the enormous mortality to which they are subject. This fact more than any other 
has brought the fish into prominence and during the past few years has called forth 
voluminous newspaper correspondence and comment. The mortality occurs chiefly 
during warm weather, especially during June and July. When the wind is favorable 
the fish will be washed up along the entire southern shore of the lake, at times being 
piled up to the depth of a foot or more in certain places. Large areas of the lake bottom 
have also been found to be thickly covered with dead fish. 
The decomposition of the fish washed ashore has proved a nuisance in almost 
every community on the lake. People have in certain instances been obliged to leave 
their homes, owing to the unbearable odor arising from the putrefying fish. Tons of 
dead fish have been annually hauled away to be used on land as fertilizer or buried 
