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intestines, usually full of partly decomposed matter, are 

 necessarily the first to break down and putrefy, thus 

 starting the process in the tissues at an unnecessarily 

 early hour ; the prudent fisherman has learnt this by 

 experience and minimizes his risks. I have seen hun- 

 dreds of boats unloaded in this Presidency and have 

 never yet seen gutted fish arrive ; gutting is not practised, 

 probably because there is really no elbow room on the 

 catamaran or canoe ; nay, I have never seen the so- 

 called fresh fish arrive gutted at the markets. Yet if 

 gutting is necessary in temperate and cold regions it is, 

 a fortiori, essential in tropical climates where fish often 

 arrives on shore in a tainted state. Gutting at sea 

 would have the additional advantao-es that the o-uts 

 would serve as attractive food and bait in the sea and 

 that the nuisance of their decomposition on the sea- 

 shore and backyards would be avoided. All large and 

 valuable fish at least should thus be treated ; some 

 authorities recommend blooding them also. Apart from 

 questions of curing, it is also well to w'ash the interior 

 of fish intended to be sold fresh w'ith salt water to which 

 a little simple preservative has been added. 



(3) The proper treatment of fish when cauoht and 

 cleaned. — At present fish are thrown in a mass into the 

 bottom of the canoe or into a coir net on the floor of the 

 catamaran, and left slowly to struggle to death, the 

 process often taking hours since the death agony is 

 prolonged by accidental splashes of salt water. It is 

 notorious that fish w^hich struggle to death decompose 

 much more rapidly than those caught and instantly 

 killed, and it is recommended that the Western practice 

 of knocking valuable fish on the head at once should, 

 even on humanitarian grounds, be followed. Moreover, 

 fish should be stored in an orderly manner and not 

 thrown into a heap in the bottom of the boat where they 

 are repeatedly trodden upon and exposed to the full 

 glare of the sun as is the case in the canoes. In brief, 

 boats should be cleaned and occasionally disinfected, 

 and most of the fish should be killed, gutted, cleaned, 

 washed with preservative (e.g., sea water with a little 

 borax), protected from inconsiderate bruising, and 

 kept out of the sun if it is desired to protect them 

 from an unnecessarily early approach of taint between 

 catch and shore. The practice and inculcation of 



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