Fish meal and oil

Abstract

Fishing is one of America’s first industries and can be traced back to the early Plymouth, Massachusetts, Colony (McCay 1980). Lee (1952) mentions that the Indians used fish for fertilizer long before the colonists arrived. Frye (1978) describes a legend of how the early Plymouth settlers learned of the use of fish as fertilizer from an Indian called Squanto or Tisquantum - supposedly saving the colony from disaster. However, McCay (1980) suggests that perhaps the Indians learned this technique from the colonists through the observations and travels of Squanto. In any event, the practice was well-rooted in the colonies, and references to such use can be found in colonial writings of 1621.