Newspapers / Carteret County News-Times (Morehead … / Nov. 16, 1948, edition 1 / Page 7
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RTERET COUNTY SECOND SECTION PAGES I TO 4 A Merger of THE BEAUFOBT NEWS (Established 1912) and THE TWIN CITY TIMES (Established 1936) 38th YEAR NO. 53. MOREHEAD CITY, AND BEAUFORT, NORTH CAROLINA, TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 16, 1948 PUBLISHED TUESDAYS AND FRIDAY! Carteret County- - -Winter Menhaden Capital of the World 10c Research Shows Possibility Of New Fish Industry Boniio, Taken Off Coast, Can Be Canned, Marketed As Tuna Although a bird in the hand is worth two in the bush, it's short sighted to become so dependent on one fishing industry that failure of this one fishery may lead to unnecessary hardship. For this reason, the possibilities of new fisheries are always being investigated by fishery scientists. Latest reports indicate that the fish, known here as bonito, can now be marketed commercially as "little tuna." A recent investiga tion by Cyrus H. Chilton, market ing expert of the United States Branch of Commercial Fisheries, reveals that in the fall of 1946 a packer on the Eastern Shore of Maryland canned a few thousand cases of little tuna. Again in 1947 this canner put up a pack of the same fish, with government ap proval of the designation "tuna" on the label. The 1947 pack, labeled "Light Meat Tuna." and double that of 1946, was distributed on the New York retail food market and was "favorably received," according to Chilton. Needless to say, this indicates a potential new industry on the Atlantic coast. The little tuna, known as bonito, false albacore, frigate mackerel, and several other names, have been observed migra ting south in November-and Dec ember off the North Carolina coast. E. W. Copeland, Morehead City, reported that several years ago a menhaden boat, using deep purse seines, caught about 50,000 pounds of these fish the first day the boat went out after them. This was in See TUNA Page 3 Scientist Tests New Net Twines A new type of chemically-treated twine being tested at the United States Fisheries Biological station, Piver's Island may be the answer to the fishermen's prayers for a net preservative. Conducting the twine test is Dr. Herbert F. Prytherch, technologist with the United States Fish and Wildlife Service. Strung on 2-foot wooden square frames, the new "acetylated cot ton twine" has been placed over board. Each month one of the eight frames will be lifted out of the water and the tensile strength of the twine tested. In order to note its comparison with other twines under the same conditions, untreated cotton twine and tar-treated twines are also strung on the frames. A similar test in fresh water is being conducted in Albemarle Sound by Dr. E. W. Roelofs, of the Institute of Fisheries Research. The experiments are a coopera tive project of the Institute of Fisheries Research, the federal government's branch of commer cial fisheries, and the United States Department of Agriculture. The acetylated cotton twine is produced by the United States De partment of Agriculture, the Cot ton Chemical Finishing division, New Orleans, La. "In the fishing v industry more than 25 million dollars is invested in net material and twines," Dr. Prytherch reports. "Fishermen own approximately 228,000 seines, trawls, and pound nets." Since large numbers of these nets are destroyed by bacteria and are rotted by weather, scientists are continually seeking some met hod of preserving them without coating them with tar which in crease their weight. - CuprinoL a copper preservative, can be purchased by fishermen now. Dipping their nets in this chemical has been found to deter rotting, and extensive tests will be made on this product in the near future, Dr, Prytherch said. Cuprinol can be used on boat bottoms and is also used to treat wood in frame houses. It is the 'green-colored "paint" frequently seen in this section on new build A Trip on the Bonner L. By Gainer Bryan, Jr. "The women run right along with the fish. When the fish is pore, the women is pore. The women is a heap Ii'ver when you got a good f ishin season." With this utterance, a Negro member of the menhaden fishing crew of the Bonner L. Willis, Beau fort, said just about the last word on the supreme importance of men haden fishing as far as he was concerned. The season is now on. For the next 10 weeks the crow's nest look outs of the menhaden boats will be combing the sea for the telltale oil slicks and the signal to the waiting purse boatmen to get their nets ready. The Bonner L. Willis is typical of the dozens of boats engaged in the menhaden industry which have already begun plying the inshore waters of the Carteret coast. "We're scavenging now in the last of the summer's runs," Bonner L. Willis, Jr., explains. "The schools we're fishing in now are coming from the inlets and creeks on their way to Florida. There'll be a bettc run when the fish start coming down from up North." Bonner, Jr., owns a share in the boat which bears his father's name, along with Charles O. Styron. It is the seventh pogic boat that Cap tain Willis has been skipper of, be ginning with the Columbia, when he was 19. The three fishermen bought the boat, a former Navy sub-chaser, from the Navy for $3,800 in Jan uary, 1948, and re-outfitted her. As the Air Phoebe, she operated out of Morehead City section base Numerous Offices Cause Confusion! The various offices and enter prises located at the former Navy section base seem to be nothing but a source of confusion to "out siders." Located there are five different agencies, and at the request of these agencies, their specific names and phone numbers are listed here: North Carolina Com mercial Fisheries office, 5411, Morehead City Technical institute, 9951, Institute of Fisheries Re search, 7606, State Highway Patrol, 8531, and Sutton's Dairy. Sutton's Dairy, however, has only a storage place at the section base. Its office is located in Camp Glenn with the phone number 9956. The Commercial Fisheries office gets long distance phone calls for men at the Institute of Fisheries Research, the Institute of Fisheries Research gets bills for Morehead City Technical institute, and lost souls wander around in MCTI workshops looking for a "dairy." All five of these enterprises are completely separate from one an other. The commercial fisheries office is a state government agenc cy, the Institute of Fisheries Re search is a division of the Univer sity of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, MCTI is part of State college, Raleigh, the State Highway Patrol is comprised of the state's law en forcement officers and has a tiny office just inside the fence at the section base, and the dairy storage place is under the supervision of a business with headquarters at Kinston. Personnel at the former section base admit that they understand how people can become confused about it all, but they wish the situation would soon become clari fied. New Net Company Begins Business in Carteret Newcomer to the county's busi ness world is The Standard Net Manufacturing company 'with of fices in Beaufort and Morehead City. v - ; Operating from three plants, at Atlantic, Harkers Island, " and Marshallberg, the Standard Net Manufacturing company will pro duce landing net bags, basketball goal nets, sport nets, and indus trial nets and netting. President of the company ' is Walter M. Lasker. Beaufort, who was affiliated with the former Sport Nets, Inc., Morehead . City. G. P. Midyctte, Jr., has been nam ed president of the organisation and Ruth W. Lasker, secretary. Capt. Bonner L. Willis and in the Panama Canal Zone, with two pancake Diesels of 1200 H. P. each. Her new owners installed two GM engines of 360 HP combined, in the place of the pancake type, put a waist on the vessel, installed a new shaft alley, pilot house and galley and all new machinery. The Standard oil dock in Beau fort, where the Bonner L. Willis moors, like many other berthing places .or the menhaden fishers in Beaufort and Morehead City, be gins to come alive with shadowy figures at 4 a.m. on a day that promises fair weather. A hulking form which looms among the moving shadows up on deck is none other than the skip per himself, identified by the mel low brown smell of his cigar and the barely visible black and white checks of his plaid shirt. He greets you a salty "Good Morning" as you come on board. Beaufort Boat Canght Biggest Menhaden in '45 The largest menhaden ever taken, according to fishing sta tistics, was caught by one of the Fish Meal company boats three years ago off Cape Hatteras. This one, five years old, mea sured 20 inches in length and weighed 3 12 pounds. A cast was made of It by Dr. H. F. Pry therch at the United States Bio logical station, Piver's Island, and several models now hang in fish factory offices in this locali ty. North Carolina s Oyster Industry By A. F. Chestnut Oyster Specialist Institute of Fisheries Research The oyster represents an im portant natural resource to the State of North Carolina. During the biennium of July 1944 to June 1946, the value of oysters gathered in this state was over one million dollars. Among the fishery pro ducts, the oyster was exceeded in value by the menhaden, shrimp, and sea trout, respectively in 1945. However, in comparing the produc tion of oysters in North Carolina with other oyster producing states, North Carolina is third or fourth from the bottom of the list. In 1940, the oysters marketed from this state represented but one percent of the 78 million pounds of oyster meats produced by all the Atlantic and Gulf coast states. Production of oysters in creased in this state in 1944 to 474,200 bushels, nearly a four-fold increase over 1940. Since 1944 there has been a gradual decline in production. The prospects for this season are not too encouraging from the standpoint of a supply of oysters. Reports from the Pamlico Sound area, which produces the bulk of the oysters in this state, indicate that the supply of oysters is limit ed on the natural beds. Carteret County produces a little over ten percent of the oysters marketed by the state. The figure might be somewhat higher for ... Carteret County if the production figures from leased areas were readily available. The unprecedented high prices received for oysters during the war years are still more or less evident. The small boats find it profitable to bring in from 6 to 19 tubs a day, receiving from $1.79 to $2.25 per tub from the shucking houses. The limited supply will un doubtedly, sustain the high prices unless the market demand decreas es markedly. In the State of North Carolina See OYSTERS Page 3 Willis A cheerful glow penetrates the early chill from a hatchway just forward of 'midships, not to speak of the more cheerful aroma of frying "streak 'o lean and streak 'o fat," and you go in for too-hot-to-handle tin cup of coffee from Hen ry Jackson, native of Southport. the Bonner L. Willis' brawny cook. Henry has been in the menhaden business 37 years, has cooked for the fishermen 15 years. Small talk gets underway with all eyes focused on the appetizing activities of Henry the Cook, as he dices potatoes and cuts up onions in a panful of beef, then shoves the breakfast hash into the oven. By 5 a.m., most of the crew have groped their way on board, and all hands turn to for hoisting the purse boats up aft on the davits. A line is secured to the striker boat from the fantail so it will trail aft. Cook pounds a pan witli a ladle, and it's chow down for all hands. A blessing is asked, then the dis appearing act starts on the steam ing hash, the "streak 'o lean and streak 'o fat," grits, rolls, coffee and preserves. By the time the last man swabs the syrup out of his tin plate the Bonner L. Willis has cast off from her mooring and is underway. Up in the pilot house Captain Willis himself is helmsman, and Bonner, Jr., serves as pilot (boat keeper). Marion Lewis, engineer, answers the bells in the engine room. Alex Dudley is mate of the Bon See A TRIP Page 2 What Are These Menhaden? The menhaden, in a sense, is the Atlantic counterpart of the Pacific sardine. It, too, is a member of the herring family, but unlike the Pacific sardine, the menhaden is used almost exclusively in the manufacture of meal and oil. Only small quantities are canned. The menhaden fishery started in New England, eventually spread southward, and is now centered in the Middle Atlantic states. The annual catch has fluctuated widely, between 150 million pounds in 1892 and 900 million pounds in 1946. In recent years it has aver aged near to 600 million pounds. The purse seine is the most im portant gear for catching menhad en; pound nets are also used, but less importantly. The meal manufactured from the menhaden was formerly used only for fertilizer and the oil only for industrial purposes, but re search by the U. S. Fish and Wild life Service has resulted in im provement of both products so that they are now used in animal and poultry feeds. Menhaden roe is saved and prepared as a frozen, salted, or canned product. At least three species of men haden inhabit the Atlantic coast; all are used without differentia tion by the fishery. They are a migratory fish which travel in schools and their seasonal migra tions control operation of the fish ery. In the spring large schools ap pear in coastal waters and even in the brackish waters of the bays, sounds, and larcer rivers where conditions are favorable for their feeding and growth. The young fish, about an inch long on their arrival, attain an average size dur ing the first year of 5 to 6 inches and a weight of 1 to 1 12 ounces. During the second year they Brow to a lencth of 8 to 10 lnrh weigh approximately 7 ounces, and yield variable quantities of oil. deoendine on latitude rmnr oil northward than southward) and on variaDie oceanographic condi See MENHADEN Page 2 Converted Nine-Sweeper Joins Sonlhport Fleet ' fhe George F. Nickerson, a con verted mine-sweeper, ioined the Southport menhaden fleet the first of this month. The Nickerson, third converted minesweeper in the fleet, is eanin. ped with two 500 HP diesel en gines and has a cruising speed of about 18 knots. She is fishing for the Rrunswlrk Navigation company, R. F. PLuco, manager. Setting the Net 7 Purse boats go to head of school, divide, encircle a spot of fish the schools are often miles in extent then meet and bring ends together. Striker, meantime, acts as hitching post for far end of seine. Photo by John Hcnimcr rGrajJlin S. Prather Invents New Bailer, bish Counter (Exclusive to THE NEWS TIMES) THE NEWS-TIMES, with this story, publishes for the first time anywhere, information on inventions which will modernize and revo lutionize the "machine end" of the menhaden industry. The informa tion here will appear in national commercial fishing magazines Sat urday, Nov. 2Q. With each succeeding day the fame of Graff lin S. (Dutch) Prather, 203 S. l!)th street, More head City, spreads farther and wider in the commercial fishing in dustry. His recent inventions, a hydrau lic fish bailer, a boat loading ap paratus, and an automatic fish counter are the answer to prob lems that have confronted both en gineers and fishermen for years. The hydraulic fish bailor, as well as the other two pieces of appara tus, are in production now at Mor ris Machine Works, Baldwinsville, N. Y., and will be shipped to pur chasers early next year. Unloads By Pumping The fish bailer, selling for ap proximately $60,000, successfully unloads fishing boats by means of pumping. Heretofore, many at tempts have been made to pump larger-sized menhaden from the holds of vessels on to docks, but these attempts have failed. Now, with the assistance of Mor ris Machine Works, Mr. Prather's EACH FISHERMAN contributes 1 annually: 47000 pounds of food to the nation THE' FEDERAL SPENDS For each fisherman $14.45 For each ton of Fishery Products. During the war menhaden and food fishermen were being drafted continually. It was practically im possible for them to get an ex emption. . Finally, at the request of local factory owners and other interests in the fishing business, Dr. H. F. Prytherch, fishery technologist, Pi ver's Island, succeeded in arrang ing a hearing before a congression al committee asking that exempt tions be granted men who were necessary to maintain the nation's fish oil, fish meal and scrap, and food supply. Presented before , the congres sional committee at that time was a graph similar to the one here, illustrating the amount of food each fisherman produces in com parison to the fanner. Also shown invention, tried and proven in ac tual tests, makes a bailing crew un necessary. The entire unloading, or bailing operation is controlled by one man located in a glass-en closed control tower high above the dock where he has good visi bility of the hold. The equipment will deliver fish directly from the boat hold to the raw boxes, there is practically no mutilation of the fish, and in many cases the equip ment can pay for itself in savings of bailing crew cost alone, Mr. Prather explains. The success of this unit is due principally, engineers say, to spec ially designed pumping units and a specially designed suction noz zle. The hydraulic bailer is fur nished in a number of sizes ca pable of unloading even the larg est sizes of fish at rates ranging from 200,000 to 750,000 fish per hour. Increase Profits Its makers claim that profits to factory-owners will be increased See INVENTOR Page 4 EACH. FARMER. contributes annually 34,500 pounds of food to the nation GOVERNMENT ANNUALLY For each Farmer $121.44 For each ton of Farm Products $704 is the amount of money the gov ernment spends annually to as sist the farmer. "This graph wasn't drawn up with the purpose of taking any thing from the farmer he's now getting," explained Dr. Prytherch, "for actually, unless a fisherman is an oyster farmer, he doesn't have to plant his crop and tend it until harvest. This was designed mainly to illustrate that the fish erman is an important producer of food." During the war, fishery by-products, as most everything, were in greater demand than during peace time. f Fish meal was used in poultry and animal feed, oils were neces sary for paints, varnishes, soap, lubricants, candles, polishes, and numerous other products. 25 Per Cent of Nation's Industry Centered Here From Nov. 1 to April 1 Carteret county is the menhaden capital of the world. In all of United States there arc only 32 menhaden processing plants and nine of these are locat ed in North Carolina In 1946, for the first time in 12 years, menhaden constituted the biggest catch in the United States nine hundred million pounds, or 20 per cent of that year's total catch. This yielded some $10,000, 000 worth of oil, meal, und dry scrap. During the war 50 per cent of Atlantic coast menhaden fleet, comprised of the best vessels, was transferred to the Navy und Coast Guard, and yet, during that period, there was better than average pro duction, while the pilchard or sar dine industry on the West coast, which was taken over by the gov ernment, went into a slump. This resulted in the menhaden fishery replacing the pilchard in No. 1 spot during 1946. In that year approximately 150 million pounds of menhaden were caught in North Carolina, constituting one-sixth of the total catch in the United Stales. North Carolina's catch was valued at a million and a half dollars as compared with $974,631 in 1945. This million and a half dollars is the actual value of the catch to fishermen and not the total va lue of the industry, which would include the cost of processing, eventual sale of the fish meal, scrap, and oil, and value of the boats and factories involved. Although catches In 1947 were less than those the year previous, the total value of the menhaden industry in this county has been quoted $3,500,352. Pogies Supply Most Oil Meal Menhaden arc the chief source of fish oil, meal and scrap in the United States. According to the latest statistics on production, issued by the branch of commercial fisheries, Fish and Wildlife Service, the menhaden industry turned out 17,- 729 tons of fish meal and scrap in June of this year. This was about 400 tons less than during the same period last year. 1948's total for the first six months is larger, however, than the total for the first six months of 1947, 25,058 tons as compared with 20,425 tons, was from tuna and meal and scrap in 1947 was 97,334 The next highest output, only 20,425 tons, was from tune and mackerel. The menhaden industry produc ed 1,072,015 gallons of fish oil in June of this year, approximately 160,000 gallons under the June 1947 output. For the first six months of 1948, the oil output ex ceeded that of the same period in 1947. Produced from January through June this year were 1,600, 330 gallons and for the first six months of last year the total was 1,472,936. Total output for 1947 was 7,948,- 964 gallons. The fishery produc ing the next highest number of gallons was the Alaska herring witn 3,658,369 gallons. Coast Guard Undertakes Intensive Recruit Drive Countless fishermen and sons of fishermen eventually find their way into the armed forces of our country, especially in the Navy, Merchant Marine, or Coast Guard. The Fifth Coast Guard District, Norfolk, Va., recently announced that the U. S. Coast Guard is con ducting an intensive drive to ob tain recruits, especially former Coast Guard and Navy petty of ficers. Due to the need of additional petty officers in the Coast Guard, the following ratings are now open for enlistment: motor machinist mate, electrician's mate, boatswain mate, radioman, ship's cook, ma chinist mate, quartermaster, radar man, electronics technician's mate, yeoman, storekeeper, pharmacist's mate, watertender, carpenter's mate and various aviation rates. Unnv nf fh nhAvji llutitff fuIak in open up to Petty Officer First J Class. . Qualified men with no previous Eight Factories Concentrated In This Coastal Area 55 Vessels Expected to Com prise This Year's Fleet Within the small area from the eastern limits of Beaufort to a short distance west of Morehead City arc located eight fatback pro cessing plants. The only other in the state now operating is the Brunswick Navigation company, Southport. This county's plants arc the fol lowing: Morehead City Carteret Fish and Oil company, operated by Clarence Taylor; It. W. Taylor company, operated by R. W. Tay lor; Wallace Fisheries company, operated by George Roberts Wal lace; Phillips Fisheries (located between Beaufort and Morehead City), Lcwcllyn, Jasper, and Or lando Phillips; Beaufort The Fish Meal company, Harvey Smith; Quinn Menhaden Fisheries, Wal lace Quinn; Beaufort Fisheries, W. V. B. Potter; and Morris's Fish company, Lambert R. Morris. Other plants are located on the eastern coast and the Gulf as follows: New York, one, Delaware, two, New Jersey, three, Virginia, eight, North Carolina, nine, Flor ida, five, Mississippi three, and Louisiana, one. Approximately 55 boats 'will comprise the fleet here this year. Because non-residents are allowed to fish in North Carolina waters, only 25 per cent of these boats are locally owned. The non-resident fishing tax is approximately SO per cent more than the local, however, and in addition, $5 must be paid for each man in the crew. i Fifty-six vessels comprised last year's menhaden fleet. - Game, Food Fish Shun Menhaden A recent investigation by local fishery technologists show) ' that game fish of these waters do- not feed extensively on menhaden, as, some sports enthusiasts have con tended, r i It has been observed that young and adult menhaden on the Atlan tic coast are not attacked 1 by schools of bluef ish, mackerel; and ' other species feeding in the same area. Because game fish rarely de vour menhaden, purse seining of these fish has not proved destruc tive to food and games fishes, the experts say. . ' ' ' . ' They point out that in menhaden nets are caught large sharks which destroy the fatback, food, and game fishes. Taking of these sharks, therefore, benefits not Only . the menhaden fishery but ether fisheries as well. . " - ' Statistics show that wherevef there are large catches of men haden, there are also large catches of food and game fish, which tends to disprove the theory that the menhaden fishery Is detrimental to taking of food and game fishes. Tide Table HIGH tOW Tuesday, Nov. 16 7:40 AM 1:23 AM 7:54 PM PM Wednesday, Nov. 17 8:19 AM 1:59 AM 8:35 PM 2:51 PM Thursday, Nov. 18 8:59 AM 2:37 AM 9:15 PM 3:33 PM Friday, Nov. 19 -- 9:40 AM 3:18 AM . 10:00 PM 4:18 PM service may be enlisted as swunan recruit. seaman recruits are trans ferred to the Coast Guard Beceiw ins Center. Cane Mav. N. J. fur recruit training. . . - In addition to thn main rtvriilt. ing station, Norfolk,. Virginia, re cruiting stations are located . in Morehead City, Charlotte and Wil mington, North Carolina, ' , V
Carteret County News-Times (Morehead City, N.C.)
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Nov. 16, 1948, edition 1
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