74 MADRAS FISHERIES BULLETIN VOL. XlII, 



most difficult to can successfully, as well as various other fish in 

 slices such as seer (cybium Commersonii), pomfret (Stromateus 

 niger) bamin (Polynemus), etc., besides oysters and mussels; vari- 

 ous fish were also made into pastes. Following this example 

 these fish are now being canned elsewhere. Since each fish differs 

 from others in treatment, and methods are various for each fish, 

 details will be given below where the canning of the several fish is 

 dealt with and recipes given. 



79. The trouble in India is that the fish, even though caught 

 inshore, are often unfit for canning through delay and bad treat- 

 ment on the boats and by reason of the Indian climate in which 

 fish, 6 hours dead, are often unfit for food. Sardines and mackerel 

 can be caught within a mile of shore but unless the first catch is 

 large the canoes wait about for further catches ; these if obtained 

 are thrown on the top of the first catch which lies pell mell in the 

 canoe ; perhaps several hours elapse before the catch comes to 

 shore by which time and under such treatment only the top layers 

 (last catches) are fit for canning. Large fish may be caught some 

 miles away and at night and are not brought ashore for some hours ; 

 since no fish are gutted or washed on board and since big fish are 

 allowed to suffocate slowly in the bottom of the boat, it is common 

 to find splendid fish already in the soft stage and unfit for canning. 

 Hence unless factory or private carriers are employed or organized 

 so as to bring the fish in as soon as caught — which has the further 

 advantage of enabling early and continuous work in the cannery — 

 the cannery is often disappointed and its work curtailed not by 

 want of fish, but by want of suitable fish. If a cannery is large 

 enough and properly situated, it should employ carriers, motor or 

 otherwise, to bring in supplies offish rapidly and therefore in good 

 condition. 



80. 0/75. — This material is an essential in sardine canning, and 

 is a very difficult item in India. Properly speaking, sardine should 

 be canned, as they were originally, in 'olive' oil, but this oil soon 

 became far too expensive for all canned goods except ' articles de 

 luxe ' ; moreover olive oil, as sold, is often very largely groundnut 

 or other vegetable oil. In the United States of America other oils 

 such as cotton-seed oil, are largely used, and in the Maine laws 

 relating to canning, cotton-seed oil is taken as the standard oil, it 

 being enacted that each quarter tin shall contain at least one ounce 

 of cotton-seed oil or other oil of similar character. Here in India 



