The Wrangell sentinel., 1936-06-19
QUALITY BASIS

The great necessity for taking every precaution possible to protect the purity and quality of Alaska's salmon pack, has been pointed out by Dr. Ray W. ClOugh, Ph. D., of the National Gamers Association Northwest Branch.
 Marketing experts tell Us that the only way the 1886 pack of Al aska salmon can be successfully sold is on a quality basis, because of the intense price competition from cheap varieties of other fish. The time to make sure that the quality is there Is right now Dr. CIougn declared.
 "The flesh of the salmon is or dinarily free from bacteria when the fish is caught" he said, but the skin of the salmon, and partic- ularly the gills, carries bacteria. If the flesh of the fish is bruised or broken by rough handling or pugh- ing, these micro organisms may be introduced into the flesh, causing decomposition.
 These bacteria sometimes double in number in as short a time as half an hour. Because they multiply very rapidly, especially in the bot tom of a boat, 1t is very ess ential that fishing boats and tenders be thoroughly cleaned after every de- livery of fish Otherwise various forms of decomposition result, some of which have very bad odors. If the boat is not carefully cleaned out, the next load of fish will be- come contaminated from the boat and decomposition will proceed con- siderably faster than if the boat is clean" Dr. Clough explained. Fish boats should at all times be free of offensive odors, otherwise they are not clean and are unfit for the reception of fresh fish"
 "To properly cleanse a boat 1t should be thoroughly scrubbed out, using a liberal amount of water under pressure. This water should then be pumped out and a second scrubbing with clean water made. In removing the water used in scrubbing, care should be taken that the suction inlet of the pump be low enough so that not only the fish hold but the bilges will be thoroughly dry.
 Water alone will not remove all the bacteria from the hold of the boat. The best practice and the one followed by many of the pro- gressive fishermen is to use some form of antiseptic solution such IS one of the odorless hypochlorites. several of which are on the market
 This can best be applied with a spray gum, since in this way, all parts of the hold or bins can be reached. The spray should contain 5000 parts per million or 8 of 1 percent of chlorine and be very lib- orally applied. A number of can neries are furnishing this antisep- tic solution at the elevator float as soon as the boat Is unloaded and washed.
 Since the strength of the solu- tion is very rapidly broken down by organic matter, 1t Is very neces- sary to have the boats we'll scrub bed before spraying, or all the bac- teria will not be killed.
 "Clean boats will contribute greatly to keeping up the quality of the pack" Dr. Clough said. Ut is obviously impossible for the can ner to produce a satisfactory and desirable pack of Canned Salmon unless the fish as received by him are in first class condition. The Sal mon Industry plays a very great part in the economic life of Alaska and can continue to do so provided the quality of it's product Is kept at a high level. The responsibility for this rests equally upon the fish erman and upon the canner."