148 GEOGRAPHICAL KB VIEW OP THE FISHERIES. 



carts" for the sale of fish, lobsters, and clams. The grocery stores keep but a small amount of 

 cured fish on hand. A large amount of fresh and salt fish is consumed without being sold. It is 

 a common practice among the fishermen and men who work at the packing stands to take to their 

 homes a sample of the delicious fish for which they have toiled so faithfully; and these samples 

 amount to a great deal in the aggregate. While on fishing trips, men who have familes to support 

 often cure a lot of fish, which they carry to their homes on their arrival, to be used by the family 

 during the winter. The men cure and use in this way as much as three or four hundred weight 

 each during a year. 



THE TRADE IN DEY AND PICKLED FISH. This industry is carried on principally by the firms 

 that own the vessels, though there are several "outside" establishments which have a large trade. 

 At the wharves where the fish are landed are flake yards and sheds for curing and packing. 

 Pickled fish, before they are sold outside the State, must be inspected and branded according to law. 

 One of the firm dealing in this article is usually a deputy inspector, who is thus able to inspect and 

 brand his own fish. 



" Boneless fish " is the trade name for cured cod or other fish divested of skin and bones and cut 

 in pieces from 3 to 8 inches in length for convenience in packing. This business was begun in 

 Gloucester in 18G9, when a limited quantity of the lower grades of cod and hake were packed in 

 soap-boxes and peddled in Boston. The article soon met with a ready sale, and in a few years the 

 packing of fish in this manner began rapidly to increase, so that in 1875 upwards of half a million 

 pounds of boneless fish were prepared in Gloucester alone. From 1875 to 1S79 the business made 

 very rapid strides, nearly doubling itself in two years, so that in 1879 about 14,000,000 pounds 

 were shipped from Gloucester to all parts of the United States. A shipment of boneless fish was 

 made to Alaska in 1879, and this industry has since been started in that territory. There are 

 twenty establishments in Gloucester in this business, employing 224 men and 16 women. When 

 this method of packing fish began, men were paid $1 per hundredweight for its preparation, but 

 competition has since reduced wages to 25 and 40 cents per hundredweight, according to quality, 

 so that the average wages of the "skinner" is now about $1.75 per day, though expert workmen 

 sometimes make $4.50 to $5 per day. One quintal of dried fish will make 89 pounds of boneless, 

 thus leaving 21.9 per cent, waste in skin and bone. The method employed in the preparation of 

 this product is described elsewhere. The fish are packed in boxes containing from 5 to 70 or 100 

 pounds each, and large quantities are put up in 200 or 400 pound boxes, to be repacked in smaller 

 packages in other cities. 



The manufacture of boxes for boneless fish has grown into an important industry employing a 

 large number of persons in various parts of New England. In Gloucester there are two factories, 

 with $10,000 capital, engaged in the business of nailing box-shooks together and in printing the 

 ends with various brands. The average-sized box used in Gloucester for boneless fish contains 35 

 pounds, and upwards of 300,000 such boxes were used here in 1879. 



The preparation of "desiccated fish," so called, was carried on at Gloucester for about two 

 years prior to 1870, during which time about 500,000 pounds of salt codfish were distributed over 

 the country under this trade name. The article was prepared by stripping the skin and bones 

 from salt cod and then grinding the solid substance into a fibrous mass. As the product absorbed 

 moisture it soon spoiled and proved a failure. 



During the year 1880, a factory was established at Gloucester by New York parties for the 

 manufacture of "evaporated fresh codfish." Little was done beyond experimenting as to the best 

 methods of production. The process is a simple one and bids fair to prove a success. Fresh 

 codfish are cleared of skin, bones, and all refuse substances and the solid flesh is subjected to heat 



