THE SHARK AS A
COMMERCIAL ASSET
The Norwegian fears not the shark.
He catches him and works up his head
into g’lue, his flesh into fertilizer, his
teeth into “ivory” ornaments, his hide
into leather and his liver into “cod
liver” oil. Nelson MacDonald, of Van
couver Island, believes that the catch
ing and industrial exploitation of the
shark is going to fnake the fortune
of British Columbia. The waters of
the province abound in sharks, says i
correspondent of The Evening Post
(New York):
“ ‘There are millions of sharks in
these North Pacific waters,’ says Mr.
MacDonald, ‘and there will never be a
shortage of them. The further north
you go the more sharks you find, and
from Vancouver to Alaska are their
feeding grounds. Taking them from
the bottom of the sea is automatic.
Norway has hundreds of such indus
tries; in fact, the only real hook for
catching them works on a swivel and
comes from Norway, as does also the
so-called ‘cod-liver oil’ which invade
the markets of the world and is really
shark-liver oil manufactured in Nor
way.’
“In the shark plant, when the huge
fish is being turned int) so many sub
stance sand articles, there is abso
lutely no waste.
“Business men from Vancouver.
Victoria, Seattle, and other North Pa
cific seaport cities sat around a table
in Victoria. Vancouver Island, recent
ly, where a firm from Seattle showed
the various processes through which
sharks passed, and the results at
tained in glue, leather, fertilizer and
other rnarketable and needful pro
ducts.
“At this meeting a Seattle company
showed a large number of shark hides
in every stage of tanning. Many of
the men assembled were ‘leather
men,’ and they fingered the product
carefully and satisfied themselves
that the leather business was enter
ing the initial stage of making up
goods of which heretofore they had
had no conception.
“Shark hides run from an inch in
thickness in the older fish to the con
sistency of paper in the baby shark.
Soles of boots, leather for the finest:
suede shoes, a black pigmented pro
duct that would make club bags of
most lasting quality, uncrackable
lengths of leather that outstript any
patent leather ever made, and which,
the leather shoemen said was th^
finest thev had ever seen, were among
the exhibits, and the thought of ail
this material right at hand was a
revelation to men who had known
that there were sharks but thought if
them only as a menace to swynme’ -
and destroyers of marketable fish.
“In Seattle hip-boots from shark
hides are being made, and one Van
couver bootmaker has been using
shark leather for other boots. Finer
grades of the tanned leather are used
for upholstering; colored and
stamped, it is everwearing and rich
to look upon.
“The outer skin of ‘shagrin’ must
come off in the first place and a pro
cess has been successfully developed
which takes this away. It has the ex
rct properties of samipaper of the
rough variety. For very fine work on
wood polishing, the ‘shagrin’ of the
baby shark can not be excelled. Un
derneath, a section torn off reveal*,
one of the greatest properties of tlm
shark hide. This texture is woven
and interlaced as if by i machine, an 1
its extraordinary durability is not
equaled by any leather.
“It takes fifteen days of specialized
proces sto turn out shark leather, and
six months or more of treatment to
prepare sole leather.
“Some of the thinnest hides puzzled
the business men; thev were so trans
parent looking and yet so strong that
nothing like them had ever been in
spected in the experience of these
experts. These skins were made from
the stomachs of sharks and, being soft
and pliable, can be worked up into
beautiful cloths.
“Nelson MacDonald looks forward
to a tyne in the not distant future
when British Columbia will have as
many shark-catching and manufactur
ing plants as Norway.
“ ‘Here they are right at our dour,
waiting to be made use of, and the*
industry is going to develop into one
( I great magnitude and many dollars,
he said.”
SCIENTIFIC STUDY OF
OUR HALIBUT FISHERIES
As a basis for the future regulation
of the industry, the International
Fisheries Commission in session at
Seattle has decided to make a thor
ough scientific investigation of the
halibut fishing banks in North Pa
cific waters. For that purpose the
commission has engaged W. F.
Thompson, who for years has been
engaged in the study of this food fish
for the British Columbia Fisheries
Commission.
His investigation will be to deter
mine to what extent, if any, intensive
fishing had diminished the supply.
He will seek to determine how by in
ternational regulation this sea foou
resource may be conserved. Research
work will be first undertaken by a
commission which was created by a
treaty between the United States and
Canada last fall.
After a three days’ session at Seat
tle the commission adjourned to meet
at Ottawa on May 6 to consider pro
posed regulations governing halibut
fishing.
Ketchikan Meat Co.
Next to Custom House, Ketchikan
Central Market
Newtown, Ketchikan
Dealers in
Fresh Meats and Provisions
Special Attention Paid to Boat
Orders
KETCHIKAN MEAT CO.
Phone 120 Day
Phone White 76 Night
Phone 307
CENTRAL MARKET
NEWTOWN CAFE
ROY SERII, Prop.
CITY FLOAT PHONE W 84
Water Street Ketchikan
Alaska Home Bakery
132 Stedman Street
Ketchikan - - Alaska
Dr. Paul Burffund, Jr.
D. O. S. P.
Eyesight Specialist
Knox Bros. Ketchikan, Alaska
Collings’ Cash Store
I. W. COLLINGS, Prop.
58 Mission St.
New & Second Hand
Household Goods
Telephone 188
Ketchikan, Alaska
SITKA CAMP
ALASKA NATIVE
BROTHERHOOD
Metts 8 P. M. Mondays
President: Frank Price
Secretary: A. Hope
Candy, Cigars, Ice Cream
Fruit, Soft Drinks
BEN SIMPSON
Metlakatla, Alaska
v.-/