It was extremely fortunate for us, as a nation, to be possessed of the knowledge and creative resources of a progressive firm. During the war, when the economic conditions became so tense, the question of the economic disposal of fish-waste to full commercial advantage suddenly assumed an unexpected significance. Specific raw materials were urgently demanded, and it was decided to search sedulously for additional domestic sources of supply. In the conduct of these investigations the potentialities of fish-scrap were forced to the forefront. The enemy was exploiting this field to its absolute limits, so why should we continue to ignore it? Cognizant of the precise possibilities of this industry and the financial attractions which it possessed the head of the firm of which I have written expressed his readiness to extend all assistance in his power. His knowledge of the craft, together with that of what the enemy could and could not do, proved invaluable, and enabled us to place the recovery of the wealth from this waste upon a solid foundation, and in such a manner as to allow of its indefinite expansion in the future. So far as turning fish-scrap to commercial account has been concerned in these islands the axiom pertaining to the prophet and his own country has not been wholly applicable. The Germans endeavoured to establish an industry upon this raw material among us but signally failed. One or two small plants were laid down along the broad lines in vogue upon the other side of the North Sea, but they fell so far short of expectations or requirements, and were so strikingly inferior to British thought as to fall into disuse. They have long since been broken up. The Teuton, however, was not solicitous of the welfare of the British nation in exploiting British fish-waste. He was merely prompted to plant himself here because the necessary refuse--raw material from his point of view--was obtainable in such huge quantities and at a low figure. The output was shipped to Germany, where it commanded an attractive price and was in keen demand. The spurned and rejected of Britain became the highly prized of Germany. Fish-waste falls into two broad classes, which are yet somewhat sharply defined. These are white fish and oily offal respectively, the herring being the best example of the latter category. Consequently, to conduct fish-waste reclamation and exploitation for the by-products upon a sufficiently comprehensive scale in these islands it would be necessary to separate the offal into the two distinctive classifications at the source. However, this would not be such a perplexing problem as it might appear at first sight. Such segregation is imperative for specific technical reasons, while one must also remember that the salt content of the offal varies widely in the two classes of fish.