3 -NOTES ON AN INVESTIGATION OF THE MENHADEN FISHERY IN 1894, 
WITH SPECIAL REFERENCE TO THE FOOD-FISHES TAKEN. 
By HUGH M. SMITH, M. D., 
Assistant in charge of Division of Statistics and Methods of the Fisheries. 
GENERAL IMPORTANCE OF THE MENHADEN INDUSTRY. 
The taking of menhaden ( Brevoortia tyr annus ), for the purpose of converting them 
into oil and guano, is one of the most prominent fisheries prosecuted with vessels on 
the eastern coast of the United States. The fishery is carried on in every coast State 
from Maine to North Carolina, inclusive, with the exceptions of Massachusetts and 
New Hampshire, and is very extensive in Ehode Island, Connecticut, New York, New 
Jersey, and Virginia. Purse seines, operated from steam and sail vessels, are used in 
taking the fish. In the more northern States steamers predominate, while south of 
New Jersey sail vessels are more numerous. The shore industry dependent on the 
fishery is very important, affording employment to many persons and representing 
large investments. 
At present between 50 and 55 menhaden factories are in operation annually; the 
value of the plants is about $925,000, and the additional cash capital is $700,000. The 
number of persons employed as factory hands and in other capacities about the factories 
is about 1,000. The vessels engaged in taking the menhaden and in transporting the 
catch number about 135, worth, with their apparatus and outfit, over $950,000. The 
fishermen number about 1,800. The total investment in this industry amounts to fully 
$2,580,000. 
The number of fish taken and the quantity of oil and fertilizer prepared annually 
vary considerably from year to year. Some years over 700,000,000 fish have been 
handled by the factories. The fish are much fatter some seasons than others, and 
similar quantities will yield very different quantities of oil. During the past three or 
four years, between 400,000,000 and 000,000,000 menhaden have been utilized each 
season, the value of the fish in a crude state being from $1 to $4 per 1,000, depending 
on their fatness. The average value of the manufactured products has been over 
$ 1 , 000 , 000 . 
At the meeting of the United States Menhaden Association in New York in 
January, 1895, the report of the secretary showed that 44 factories were in operation 
during the season of 1894, employing 1,055 men on shore and 1,301 on vessels; the 
fishing fleet consisted of 28 sailing vessels and 56 steamers; the total number of fish 
utilized was 533,361,900, which yielded 1,999,505 gallons of oil and 47,639 tons of scrap. 
These figures apply only to menhaden firms who are members of the association. 
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