The morning Astorian. [volume] (Astoria, Oregon) 1899-1930, 1899-09-29
FISH PR0DUCTS0F
UNITED STATES
Enormous Proportions Of The Pre-
serving Industry Shown.
FISH COMMISSIONS BULLETIN
From Maine 10 California Thousand,
Find Employment In Catching
and Preparing Fish for Food

- -" aN NAAal " tit0 business
of preserving nsh products for food.
and the have got together lot OF inter
esting facts. which will soon be pub.
iHhed In the form OF bulletin. says
the Washington Post.
Fishes, OF course. cannot DO trans
ported over great distances 70 the
place of marketing. and there saugh-
tered. nor will they remain for long
periods in an edible condition. like the
cereals and many Vegetables, They are
sshiect 20 quick decay after being TAX.
cn from tho water. ANA hence the
preservation of them is problem In.
yolvlng dIrieultos
Although this country Is famous
70, 'iA marine and other fishery pro-
ducts. u appears that methods Of pre-.
serving many Of them are no, 80 we'll
Understood here a. abroad. and on this
account some Of our resources arc no,
a''SquaIcly developed For example.
though the herring is one OF the most
abundant fishes along the coasts Of the
United States. we lmpor, annually over
s?000,cOo worth of hcrrings The most
important industry depending upon
opSa'air rcfrlgcraton 10 the freezing
by natural cold of herrlngs on the New.
foundland and New Brunswick coasts
for our own markets, the trade aver
aging 2a000,000 fshee a year.
on the other hand refrigeration by
artificial cold has enlarged and widen
ed the general fishing trade 40 extern
slvely that at present salmon fresh
from the Columbia. river. hallbut from
Alaskan waters. and oysters from
Chesapeake bay and Long Island sound
are sold throughout the United States
and In foreign countries, Already the
expectation OF nsh In fresh condition
from this country 10 Europe has be-
come a business Of Importance. the
shipments Of salmon and steclhead
trout amounting 60 several hundred
tons yearly. This species OF trout has
been found remarkably well adapted
for long distance transportation. hav-
ing comparatively little oil. and one Il
on record where steelheads frozen solid
and sent TO England were placed on the
market with such Just-out Of the.wa.
ter look that the dealer was arrestet
for having on sale fresh fsh illegally
caught.
II is TO Hamburg that the Creates
quantity OF American fresh ilsh ar,
shipped, and from that point they ar,
distributed all over the European con
tlncnt, A. New York the cases OF fro
zon Anny products are transferrc,
from the refrigerator cars. or from cole
storage rooms ON shore. to those OF
board the vessels. which are provided
with admirable facilities for artincla
frrcRlng. or course, these processe
cannot be applied successfully 10 al
kinds Of fiahery products. For exam
Pile. shRd are 50 very delicate that /
does not do to froeAe them, and oyster
aud clans will not stand temperatur
below IS degrees Fahrenheit. Caviar
should never be frozen, scallops an
frogs legs, on the, other hand, ar,
frozen hard IN tin buckets and store
at 10 to Is degrees.
In cold countries the freezing Of AS
In the open air In winter Is the naturo
and doubtless one OF the oldest method
Of preservation Before It became IN
fashion TO use Ice for the purpose. deal
ere used 10 take Ash frozen by paturl
cold from Boston TO New York 200 or "a
miles inland. Even at the present tlmC
Notwithstanding the advent OF Ice an
quick transportation, immense quaint
ties OF smelts are frozen In Maine an
the British provinces during Deoembe
and January, and are shipped In boxt
by rail to New York and Boston, TIL
trade amounts to not far from 1000
boxes annually. averaging s5 pounds {
; smelts each,
II must be acknowledged that fls
kept nomlnaily fresh by freezing al
by no means m good as the same il
Just out OF water, The eye dries Y
and loses It's shining appearance aft,
long exposure to cold, and the skin
comes hard and loose. True, the flel
Is not less wholesome, but II loses fla
or and hrmness. Cost Of cold storat
and deterioration In quality make
a lnadvlsable to "carry" frozen fish mo
than nine or ten months, but som
- times, owing to exigencics Of the trad
they are kept over for two or thr
years. oysters and CLANS cannot
held In flrst-rate condition for mo
than six weeks by such means.
II Is worth mentioning In this co
nectlon that the great cold-storat
warehouses for fish in Paris Is und
the bourse or stock exchange. and
managed by the Compressed Air Coz
pany Of the French metropolis T
freezing Is done by means OF oompres
cd air which In expanding general
cold, temperatures near zero or bell
that point being furnished as ordered
renters Of rooms for preserving pl
poses. Practically the cost Is so mu
nor daoraa nf cold sunnlled In n