METHODS OF INSHORE FISHERIES 255 



been filled. This may go on for several weeks, depending 

 upon the supply of fish. After the house has been filled 

 and to fill one holding 20,000 herring requires about two 

 weeks the herring have to be smoked for two or three 

 weeks before they are ready for packing. Herring are 

 packed in thin wooden boxes about 16 inches long, 8 

 inches wide and 4 inches deep. 1 The price of the Maine 

 pack of herring in 1905 and 1906 averaged between nine 

 and ten cents a box. The value of herring smoked in 

 Maine in 1906 was $317,480. 2 



The bloater herring industry is carried on principally at 

 Gloucester and Boston. The fish used in this business 

 come generally from Newfoundland, being brought to these 

 ports usually in American vessels in a salted condition 

 in bulk. These have to be soaked, strung on sticks, and 

 dried much after the manner described for hard herring. 

 Further processes in the smoking and preparing bloaters 

 are described as follows : 



"In order to 'bloat,' the herring must be thoroughly 

 moist, and after they have commenced to dry in the smoke- 

 house the heat must be increased. If they are permitted 

 to hang 10 or 12 hours without heating they will not bloat, 

 but will become hard herring. The smoking is continued 

 from 2^/2 to 6 days, when the fish are usually sufficiently 

 cured. They are removed from the houses, allowed to cool 

 for a few hours, and placed in boxes holding 50 or 100 

 fish each, the larger size being by far the most numerous. 

 The average weight of 100 bloaters prepared from New- 

 foundland herring is about 40 pounds, whereas an equal 

 quantity prepared from the Gulf of Maine fish weighs 25 to 

 3*5 pounds, according to their size and the extent of the 



lAnsley Hall, The Herring Industry of the Passamaquoddy Re- 

 gion, Maine. 



2 29th An. Report, Com'r of Sea and Shore Fisheries, Maine, 1905 

 and 1906. 



