Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1900-06-09
THE GOLDFISH INDUSTRY
DUTCH CLAIM HONOR OF DISCOVER
ING IT'S FOOD VALUE.
Next to Herring Ii Is the Most Imports
ant Gift of the Sea to the
Human Race.
From the Providence Journal.

be partially due to its extensive distribu-
ton over the globe. for 1t inhabits both
of the northern divisions of the Atlantic
and Pacific oceans and even the polar sea
to a distance beyond the Arctic circle.
Inc Dutch claim the honor of having
been the first race to discover its food
value. and tradition says they ate 1t in the
fourteenth century. However. we have au-
thentic records that the Banks of New
foundland were visited by the French as
early as 1904 and by the Spanish about a
dozen years later 1t is said that Cape
Goa was first SO called by BarthoIome'-
Gosnold in 1902 who caught so many fish
with them
Even that gallant explorer. Capt John
smith was much exalted over his luck
while fishing at the Isle of Shoals in 1914
In writing of 1t he says: What sport doth
yield more pleasing content and less hurt
OF charge than angling with hook and
crossing the sweet air from isle to Isle over
the silent streams of a calm sea- Thus
1t will be seen that the Banks and Shoals
were early recognized important fishing
stations-an honor they retain to this day.
Although our South county cannot boast
of catch sufficiently large to equal even
the smallest one taken on the Banks, yet
she brags about individual fish of by no
means contemplate size, and the warns
spun by her fishermen are on a parallel in
regard to veracity with any told in the
world.
The cod belongs to the same order as the
haddock. halibut. founder turbot and other
similar tshes. The distinctive character
lstlcs OF the genus are: Three dorsal and
TWO Ventral fins without spnes and "A small
appendage tcalled barbulep hanging from
inc lower jaw, which latter indicates that
the cod Is deep-sea fish. A noticeable
feature is that the swim bladder has no
connection with the outlet. which proves
its use for hydrostatic purposes alone.
when this organ Is expanded the specific
Of fish sc
thus rise to the surface of the water but
If contracted the animal sinks.
The Gadus morrhua (the Gods scientific
name) is of me galdae family and unlike
the other members is not a migratory fish,
but lives in great colonies on a limited ter
ritory. When fresh from the water the
back of the cod is a greensh brown color.
thicEly spotted with reddish yellow dots
Its belly is a silvery opaque white and the
inns are pale green. 1t may be distin-
guished from the haddock. with which It
commonly feeds. by the lateral line that
runs from the end Of Its gills to It's tail.
On the haddock this line is IA dark color,
while on the cod it is pure white
The cod spa yns in February. from 1000
900 to 9.oWom eggs being the deposit of
single female By the end of spring the
young fish have grown to about an inch in
length. However they are not suitable for
market before their third year when they
usually measure three feet and weigh any
where from twelve to twenty pounds
apiece. 1t is rare thing lin the South
county, for the Goldfish to attain weight
greater than twenty-five or thirty pounds.
Upon the Banks few are caught which
weigh over eighty. and those that weigh
from twenty-five to fifty pounds are more
common. Two men can catch upward of
800 fish in a day off the Newfoundland
coast. South county fishermen are more
conservative in their estimate.
The fish is of the greatest food value dur
ing the three months previous to Christ
mas. 1t is then caught by means of long
% off frnp tha .ba
from a boat. When the warm wea Their Of
spring arrives the cod resorts to deeper
water-usually from twenty-five to atty
fathoms-as 1t Is strictly a cold water fish,
Here it feeds upon worms. sand cells, shell
fish. cru5tacea and other small fish of var
ious kinds.
During this season. which may last from
April until fall. the men live in rough shan
ties along the coast. in order to be near
their work, the vocation occupies all
their time. Since the fish now dwell in too
deep water for the seine or hand lines to
be used advantageously they are caught by
a process known as crawling" which was
first introduced into this country about 1860
by the French.
trawl consists Of main line about
5000 feet in length. having shorter ones,
which are generally thirty-six inches long
with a strong iron hook tied to each. at
tached to the main line from three to six
feet apart so that every trawl has from
500 to 1000 hooks upon 1t. Each end of the
main line has a small anchor attached to
1t. and two buoys. which may be nothing
more than empty kegs. are also fastened.
one at either end, by means of long ropes.
1t is customary to put a short pole in the
head of each buoy to which Is attached a
flag bearing the initials of the owner or
other trade mark by which he can tell his
property al a short distance.
CLAIMS. Holsters. squid. herring and other
small fish are used to bait the hooks with
Each fish will bait four five hooks Squid
Is preferable to all the others. but cannot
ha oh 70 cd A, f,.t 49,
are baited the trawl Is coiled up In a tub
made out of barrel that has been sawed
In halves. The main line Is wound against
the sides of the tub and the baited hooks
fall toward the center. To bait a trawl
usually takes from to two or two and
one-half hours but 1t is sometimes done
during the fisherman's spare moments.
When the men ready to go out the
trawl 10 Tut into the boat along with
an extra key of baltic be used in case it
is necessary to rebait any Of the hooks on
the trawl lines already set. A jug OF water
is customarily carried under the seat in the
stern. and a few skeptical men surrepti-
tiously conceal half dollar in their trous-
ers pocket as safeguard against ship
wreck upon a desert island off the coast Of
South county.
The system Of trawling Is somewhat as
follows: The men row to good FISHING.
ground. which may be four or five miles
from the coast. and approach buoy whose
flag bears their mark or insignia When it
has been reached the end of the trawl that
is attached to 1t is drawn up to the surface
and the hooks examined by one man, while
the other rows the boat the length of thf
main line The fish that are caught ara
taken from the hooks and thrown into the
boat and the hooks rebaited with the mate
rial brought along. Not all are cod. how
ever. Some will be haddock, others hake
and even a dogfish will now and then turn
up. At times mere Shiny masses are
hauled up by the hooks from the oozy bot
tom.
The process of curing the fish is at least
200 years old. 1t consists in removing all
the entrails and cutting off the head The
fish are then split from head to tail and the
backbone extracted. After this they are
rinsed in a hogshead of water and packed
in barrels with ample layer of salt COW
ering each stratum of fish. Two or three
men can do this quite easily, but greater
number facilitate the process. After a GER
tain length of time. which depends upon
how salt 1t Is desired to make the fish. they
are removed and spread upon flakes to dry.
Flakes wooden frames about seven
feet wide and raised three feet from the
ground. usually covered with triangular
Stats. 1t requires considerable ability to
dry the fish properly. and the perfection Of
this part alone is fine art. If the sun
light is too strong it softens them up, or,
the fishermen say. washes them. To
prevent this the flakes are sometimes COW
cred with screens from one to three feet
high. In case the men have no flakes the
6ch III cd no nP