SHARK'S GRIN.

Auckland Star, Volume LX, Issue 230, 28 September 1929, Page 18

SHARK'S GRIN.

TURNING THE LAUGH ON HIM. • CARCASE FINDS MANY USES. FULL OF VALUABLE PRODUCTS. Shark fishing in South African waters is a promising new industry, but came to a' sudden halt recently with the stranding of the steamer Istar on the Madagascar coast. Salvage operations are in progress, however, and it wa3 hoped that the Istar would soon be able to resume her work. The Istar, once- a private yacht, was recently converted into a floating factory. Workshops have replaced luxurious staterooms in her graceful hull and great tanks have been installed on decks where once orchestras played. Fishing boats with motors swing from her davits. The shark fishing industry is not new in other parts of the world, but the Istar is said to bo the only deep-sea vessel specially equipped for the task. She was voyaging south to Union waters in search of rich fishing grounds when she ran ashore in St. Augustine's Bay, on the south-west coast of Madagascar. From South Africa she was to have proceeded to Australian waters, ■ where a profitable shark industry has long been established. Every Scrap Used. "Please deliver 100,000 sharks' teeth as soon as possible," was the strange order received by the Shark Fisheries Company in Sydney. The teeth are used as currency in some of the Pacific Islands, and in China they are cleaned, bleached, polished, capped with gold and made into beautiful ornaments. Tho equipment of the Istar makes it possible to utilise almost every scrap of tho shark. Immediately a carcase is hoisted on board the skin is stripped off and placed in a revolving drum containing a strong solution of hydrochloric acid. Within twenty minutes all the tiny denticles, that roughen the skin have vanished and the surface, smooth as calf leather, is ready for tanning. While-the skin is being treated other men are, cutting up the carcase. Twenty by-products are obtained. From the liver comes the. fattening substance which, is often misnamed "cod liver oil" and is also used in making margarine. Tho fins are sent to China," where they are worth, from ten to twelve shillings each. They. contain a gelatinous substance which tho Chinese prize as a vitamin. Pigments of fine quality are derived from the gall and precious drugs from tho pancreatic glands. The meat is cut into strips,-dried and packed for export. It. is regarded as a delicacy in many parts of Africa and has even been sold in London as rock salmon. Demand for Shark Meat. In the opinion of experts it will be at least ten years before the siipply of shark meat can meet the demand. Shark leather is said to be not only softer and more durable than ordinary leather, but its uses are wider. Patent leather that will not crack, shoes that rival snake and lizard skins in beauty, coats as soft as silk and very strong—all these can be worked up from shark hide.

Glue,,animal fodder, dyestuffs, polishing materials and fertilisers are -other; by-products of the shark, . Equipped'as •a tannery, the Istar can deal with about , thirty tons a day. Linen nets, are used, by the Istar's crew. Suspended from buoys, hanging far below the' surface of the sea, these nets are too strong even for the vicious jaws and tails of sharks. Caught in , the meshes, they fight.bitterly; but the more they wrestle with. the..nets the tighter their gills are closed. Opening their jaws in an. effort to breathe they are drowned. As sharks never swim backwards, When they encounter such a net they are doomed.