56 MADRAS FISHERIES BULLETIN VOL. XIV, No. 4 (1921) 



to the freezing or the refrigerating tanks- (both systems are 

 employed), where they are at once placed in cold brine at the 

 temperature of 5° F. for freezing or 23° F. for refrigerating. When 

 frozen the trays are again picked up by the electric transporter 

 and stacked ready for loading into railway vans or into the cold 

 store chambers. 



The time necessary for refrigeration varies usually from twenty 

 to thirty minutes, and for freezing from 45 minutes to 2V2 hours. 



These fish-freezing works are designed to deal with a daily 

 arrival and despatch of 400 tons of imported fish, in addition to 

 freezing 30 tons of fresh fish, together with an output of ice of 

 120 tons. 



With regard to India, if we can devise a method that will 

 successfully counter the special disabilities attending all freezing 

 propositions in a tropical country, its application on a large scale 

 should, among other utilities, go far eventually to render it unneces- 

 sary any longer tq turn immense quantities of wholesome sardines 

 into manure. To canners, the application of brine freezing to their 

 particular needs should prove an inestimable boon for stabilizing 

 the industry; at small expense they would be able to ensure an 

 ample reserve for use on the learx days when fresh fish are un- 

 obtainable, scarce, or bigh in price. In Scandinavia the utility of 

 brine-freezing plants is already recognized by canners, and brine- 

 frozen fish are now being utilized in this industry. Experiment 

 has further shown that brine-frozen herrings are equal to fresh 

 fish for kippering purposes. 



The value of brine-freezing plants to obviate the waste that 

 attends gluts is obvious; indeed this object is one of the principal 

 reasons for the home Government's interest and experiments in 

 this process. 



n. 



