, 1886-04-29
The Goldfish Of Puget Sound.
HOW TO CURE THEM FOR FOOD.
Written Tor the AEGuzI
By james G. swan Asst. TO L. :. Fish Comm'n
No. III.

rador fisheries from which | make
the following extracts for the purpose
of showing our people the simplest.
easiest and best method of preserv-
ing this valuable food fish. 1t is a
we'll known fact among all eastern
that cod, or any other kind
of fish. that are not intended to be
sold as fresh fish, should be cleaned
and salted as soon as possible after
being caught. The Labrador fisher
man think that IL fish remains out
of water twenty four hours without
being cleaned it is not fit to be
eaten. The boat or shore fishing of
Labrador is thus described:
After reaching the fishing ground
from to 10 miles off shore, the boat
is anchored, the hooks baited and
thrown overheard Each man stands
in the after hollow of his boat where
he tends a limo on each side and
two. As soon as fish IS
hooked, it is hauled in and being
thrown forcibly over a crane in the
shape of a figure Y with an iron bar
between the ends, which tears the
hook from the tish's mouth it falls in
to the hollow beyond. Ii the fish
bite well the sport soon becomes
lively As fast as hook Is baited
and thrown into the water, one OF the
other lines is ready to be hauled in
To haul this up quickly, hand over
hand, fling the line over the Y, thus
dppositing the fish IN the hollow, re
bait the hook and fling it out again Is
the work of but few minutes, mean
while, perhaps one OF all the other
hooks have fish upon them, and the
catcher is obliged to fly from one to
the other in a lively manner. Ii the
ahoal fishing is bad the boatmen
hauls up, his anchor and goes out in
to the deep water. Here he labor
lousIy throws his line into 80, 10, and
even 70 fathoms, or 420 feet OF water,
and to this q heavy leaden weight OF
s to 10 pounds to counteract the eff
fects of the tide and currents aEd a
struggling fish of 50, 60 or more
pounds, as [ have often seen these
immense deep sea fish, all to be
drawn ia quickly, hand over hand
and it will be seen that codtishing is
no easy matter. After all this had
exercise, let them row their boat
home in calm, or beat in almost 4
dense fog for 6, s or 10 miles and
you ara sure the work is not all
sport"
The boats start for the fishing
ground very early in the morning
and usually return in the afternoon,
early enough TO have to have their
fish taken care of before night. They
arc landed on platform raised upon
piles driven into the mud or on bents
sunk to the bottom with huge stones
for ballast, where at high tide, the
water is from 8 to 10 feet deep, and
at low tide from 2 to 3 feet deep,
the fish are unloaded by throwing
them from the boats to this wharf
with huge pitchforks. By the time
the fish are unloaded, the men, re
turned from their dinner, are prepar-
ing to cure the ''cateh." The least
number that can conveniently cure q
lot of fish is three, when the work Is
pressing, for if q large quantity are
brought in they must be done i'm
mediately or they will soften and
spoil; when business is unusually
lively, six men are necessary. For
the purpose of cleaning the fish a
low open shed is erected on the stage
head This is to save carrying the
fish to a distance and also for con
venience of throwing the offal into
the water ana 70 having plenty of
water at hand to wash off the fish
and clean off the filth which results
from this dirty job, because to cure
the fish properly it is necessary to
have them as clean as possible. In
tho centre of the shed is long, wide
table, large enough TO be occupied by
two sets of three men each. On she
left Of the first man is a deep box
one half of which extends outside OF
the shed on tho platform where the
fish are thrown. These are pitched
into the box by q boy with pitch
fork. The man stationed by this
box is called the ''throater' or throat
cutter. Next to him on the same
side is the ''header," opposite stands
the splitter" The ''throater" takes
up one OF the fish and lays it upon
the table, placing the forefnger Of
his left hand in the eye and laying
his thumb upon the chin or into the
hollow just beyond the chin and be
meath the tongue lie presses the
head downward, thus opening up the
gills, this is a matter more easily un-
Gerstood when seen than when de-
scribed; wit I sharp knife the tleshy
rib Of the tongue is cut through at a
single stroke; another stroke sewers
the flesh down the belly, while a
third ono lays open all the inside and
ends i'll cash beyond the intestines
and beyond the ventral fin about
three inches. The knife used for
the purpose has short, thick iron
handle, with a blade about 5 inches
long, generally less than an inch
wide at the base and tapering to q
round point and sharp us razor on
both edges, thus cut the fish is passed
to the header. He first separates
the liver from the rest of the insides
and throws it into a barrel. He then
tears out the insides, breaks off the
head from the body and throws it
and the internal parts into The water
through hole in the floor, the fish
then passes to the splitter" He
splits the fish from the end of the cut
made by the throat sr" completely or
nearly to the tail. He then removes
the back bone and the dark inside lin
ing of the belly, saving the sound
and throwing the backbone overheard
and gives the fish toss into wheel
barrow standing ready to receive
them. As fast as the wheelbarrow is
filled, it is wheeled to the place
where it is to be salted; the fish are
are laid down In four rows upon the
floor from end to end of the building,
the heads alternating with the tails
in every other row. As soon as one
row is laid down it is we'll salted and
then another row Is laid on top and
more salt, and the process is contin-
ned until the row il ab0ITi fOur faat