The Hawaiian gazette., 1918-09-03
Hawai- Has One Of
Finest Fish "
CaanerieS In Pacific
Great Quantities Of Tuna Packed
For Local and Outside Con-
sumption; Latest Automatic
Machinery Is In, Use

Down near the Ala Moana Road, at
the corner Of Cooke and First Streets,
is one of the finest and most completes
~ equipped fish canneries in the Pa
rihc. It belongs to the California Ha-
wnilnn Packing Company and has Just
Ind some of the latest automatic ma
chrnrry installed to help in the pack
my of the striped tuna, or other kind
Of tuna. Some of the fish brought in
by Japanese fishermen weigh as much
n $50 pounds.
Last Saturday over fifty women and
girls were busy canning about two
tons Of tuna which had been brought
IN. Only the white meat of the fish is
canned in the grade | cans, while in
grade the white and the dark meat
is mixed. Grade is more popular in
Hawaii and the Orient as the local
people say the dark meat is the better
Favored. Grade l goes nearly all TO
the mainland, where there is big de-
mand for il, and the government Is
taking quantities for the army and
navy.
In the cannery itself it is all one
great big airy room, well screened to
long clean tables and polished machi-
merry. The boilers and retorts, tanks
and other paraphernaia which might
cause dirt or dust are outside under
separate cover. But the human-like
machines which take an empty can,
put in it Just enough salad oil, Just
enough salt, then put it on a conveyor
which deposits in front Of the women
in ha I'm hi 4
when packed and clamps an air-tight
lid on it, washes off the can and final
ly deposits it in tray to be cooked
second time; these machines are a
part of the working force.
Every Fish Watched
w. p. English is the manager Of the
cannery and looks after the supply Of
fish and any other matter needing at
tentiOn; while J. A. Yeomans, who was
in the fsh-packing business on the
Coast for years, is the superintendent
of the cannery and keeps an eye on
every fish which goes into the cans,
also on the girls to see that only the
choice parts of the fish gets into the
half pound cans. AS a matter Of fact
there is from forty to sixty percent
of the fish which il not canned, even
after cleaning, but much of this is
sold for chicken feed, or part to the
Hawaiians, who get much good fish at
very cheap price. s
"Only the solid white meat OF the
tuna goes into the first grade cans,
! said Mr.. Yeomans, speaking of the
process Of canning the fish. "The Sec
dnd grade, is made up. Of, the small
pieces of white meat and the dark
meat crumbled up together. The
Orientals prefer this grade as better
favored. There is strong demand
here and on the mainland for canned
tuna and q market for all the fish we
can put up. 1t is only a question of
getting the fish. 900
Regulation Causes Loss
"There is one thing l wish could
be changed, and that is some regula-
ton by which a boat loaded with fish
which arrives at the harbor mouth Just
after the harbor is closed for the
night, conld be permitted to enter and
deliver its fish; for often when this
happens the japanese do not like the
trouble to try to preserve the fish, but
let it all spoil, as often there is no
ice. -
In connection with the fishing indus
try of the Islands the two fine can
neries in Honolulu are the pioneers Of
the new enterprise which adds just so
much more to, ,Hawaiis, capacity for
sustaining itself and putting in anoth-
er peg in the prosperity column,