Notes on the use of Squid for food in the United States

BULLETIN OF THE UNITED STATES FISH COMMISSION. 127

40.

— NOTES ©N THE USE OF SQUID

FOUS.

FOOD

IN

THE UNITED STATES.

By

I.

W. COBBIWS.

Much

changeisbeing brought aboutin the

American

marketsinthe matterofthe utilization of marine products forfood,

and

apparently thisis,in a measure,

due

to the aggregationof peopleof foreign birth inthe

more

important coastcities.

The most

remarkableinnovationin the direction of the utilization of sea productsfor food

which

hasre- cently

come

to

my

knowledge,isthat of the

demand

for squid (chiefly Loligopealei)forfoodin

New York

markets,

where

thisspeciesissought

and

apparently highlyappreciated

by

the Italians, of

whom

there are large

numbers

residingin

New York

City.

Mr.E. Gr. Blackford statesthat the

demand

forsquidhas

been

con- stantly increasingforthe past fouryears,

and

thisbranchof thetrade

is

becoming

aprofitableone.

u The

entireconsumption,”hesays,“_ap- pearsto be

by

the Italians. I

have known

of as

much

as 4,000

pounds

beingreceivedfrom

Long

Island

and

sold in oneday.

The demand

is

steady,

and

ifthe squid arein

good

ordertheyare readily sold atfrom 3 to 6 cents perpound.

When

^properlycookedthe squid isa

most

ex- cellent dish.”

Mr. Blackford thinks that the influence of theIchthyophagous Club of

New York

has

had much

to

do

withthe introduction ofsquidfor food,

and

says that about three or four years ago the club firstventured to cook

and

serve squidatoneoftheirannualdinners. Itisawell-known

fact, however, that squid are highlyvalued forfood in Oriental coun- tries,

and

that

an

importantfishery for

them

iscarried onin China. It is alsoprobablethat theItalians,

who

are the consumers of this pro- ductin

New

York, learned to eatsquid in theirnative country, before emigratingtoAmerica.

Mr. Atkins

Hughes,

of

North

Truro, Mass.,

who

is

engaged

in the trapfishery atthat place,

makes

the followingstatementin regard to the

demand

forsquid:

“When

in

New York

thepast three orfouryearsI

was

told thatthe Italians used squid forfood, butthat the quantity

was

small

and

the price low.

Yerv

little

encouragement was

given

me

toshipuntil the past season (1887),

when

afishdealerintheFulton

Market

said to me, aboutOctober1:

4If

you

canship

me

afewbarrelsofsquidoccasionally I thinkI can sell

them

ata lowprice.*

The

squid season

was

nearly overthen,butinlookingover

my

books I findthat

we

shipped to deal- ers in

New York

about 50barrelsin 1887,

which

soldfrom 2 to5 cents per pound,nettingabout $3 per barrel.”

Under

date of

December

2,1887,hesays^: “

The

squid seasonisabout over.

Some

days

we have

a few bushelsin ourweirs, but they

have

128 BULLETIN OF THE UNITED STATES FISH COMMISSION.

become

such

an

article of food

among

the Italiansof

New York

that

we

can obtain better prices

by

shipping

them

there, than

by

selling

them

for bait.”

From

the foregoing, it

would

appear that with the increase ofpopu- lationin thiscountry

and

with abetter

knowledge

of the food valueof certain species of marine animals

which have

heretofore not

come

into general use,itis supposablethatthefood supplyfrom our oceanfisher- iescan be veryconsiderably increased.

Some

speciesof fish that are held in the highestesteeminEurope,

and which

occur in the greatest

abundance

offourcoasts,areseldom ornevereaten

by

Americans,

and

there is practically

no demand

for

them

inour markets.

Perhaps

the

most

notedof theseisthe Skate (Baia), while

many

speciesof theflat- fishes

—

flounders,dabs, etc.

—

^{are solittleprized that}theircaptureis a matterof

minor

commercial consequence.

Washington, D.

_0., April20, 1888.

41.

— NOTE ON THE OCCURRENCE OF MACKEREL OFF THE COAST OF FLORIDA.

By

J.

W. COLLINS.

Capt.

John W. Emmons,

masterof the schooner Belleof^the

Bay

,of

New London,

Conn., recently arrivedin

New York from

a winter’sfish-

ing cruise for

Red Snappers on

the

grounds

off of

Cape

Canaveral, Florida.

He

fished inthatregion

from December

12,1887,toApril14, 1888. In a conversation

which

I

had

with

him

three

days

ago,

he

stated thatduring

January

ofthepresent year he

saw

several schoolsof

mack-

erel inthevicinityof

Cape

Canaveral, butchieflyabout 15to25miles southeast from the cape,

and

that as

many

asone

hundred

specimens ofthefish

were

caught

by

hiscrew

on

thefishing gearusedforthe capt- ure of

Red

Snappers.

These

mackerel

were from

12 to 15 inches in length.

The

captain is confident that they

were

all of the

common

species, Scomberscombrus^.

Although

hefrequently

saw

schools ofmackerel,

he

isoftheopinion that purse-seines couldnotbe used becauseofthe

abundance

of sharks,

which would

tearthenetsto pieces.

Washington,

April25, 1888.