Alfred Ehrenreich
Alfred Ehrenreich (1882–1931) was a Moravian-born American immigrant who developed and advanced the trade of wide scale shark harvesting. He had been fascinated by sharks from an early age. He helped to start a business in America that caught and processed them in large numbers commercially. He believed they were a limitless resource from which oils, chemicals, fertilizers, food and leather could be obtained. He later attempted to expand the business to Europe, Africa and Australia. Background Ehrenreich, was from Moravia and moved to America in 1914; he was described as an ex-banker, chemist and naturalist. His parents, who lived in Vienna, were Rosalie Konag and Moritz Ehrenreich. He married Margaret Elsa (Grete) Koehler (1893-1960) from Dresden, Germany, on 4 December 1916 in Manhattan and naturalized as an American citizen in 1920. He was financially independent and well connected. In 1917, with fellow investors, he launched the Ocean Leather Company for tanning and refining shark hides. Reports at the registration indicated that the company was capitalised at $41 million. Ehrenreich was the company president, and Dr Russell J. Coles (1865-1928) - who was a knowledgeable deep sea fisherman and fishing buddy of Theodore Roosevelt - was a director and honorary