SARDINE INDUSTRY.

Auckland Star, Volume LXI, Issue 33, 8 February 1930, Page 11 (Supplement)

SARDINE INDUSTRY.

SANDWICHES AND PEARLS,

In tlie spring,.when the Eastern Canadian sardine factories are prepaiing for the-opening of the 1930 season, it will, be noted that the larger and more modern plants have practically eliminated waste. From the millions upon millions of sardine herrings canned annually at these establishments nothing is left that is not utilised. The by-products of the business are tremendous.

The scales of ' the silvery herring, which were once nothing but a nuisance, now bring in hundreds of thousands of dollars to pearl necklace manufacturers. These scales possess beautiful iridescence when affixed to a sphere or rounded surface. When laid flat, however, they lack the pearly lustre.

Then there are the heads, tails and other waste products that formerly were loaded on scows, taken far out to sea and dumped, or else destroyed in incinerators, or to a limited extent used as a field fertiliser. Now the increasing numbers of fish meal plants quickly convert them into nutritious and cheap poultry food.

The waste oils from the overflowing tins are all caught and used in the production of varnish and paints. Even the bright tin trimmings from the cans are saved. Compressed into big bales they are shipped to England, there detinncd, smelted and processed over into new sheets of metal.