340 MARINE FISHERIES OF NORTH CAROLINA 



support a public cold storage for fish, dealers have to provide their own, 

 and in smaller places there is none and frozen or chilled fish cannot be held. 

 Cold storage lockers and deep freeze cabinets are a promising new develop- 

 ment in this field. 



Apart from the fishy flavor, fish generally, especially the less fatty ones, 

 are somewhat insipid. Pure proteins are practically tasteless; red meats and 

 game generally owe their high flavors to the blood and "extractives" which 

 are held in the tissues at slaughter. When slaughtered most fishes hold little, 

 and some of them almost no, blood and extractives; generally they require 

 special seasonings to overcome the deficiency of flavor. The bones in fish 

 cooked whole are exceedingly objectionable. Few people know where the 

 bones are, or how to eat a cooked whole fish without getting bones mixed 

 with the flesh (an operation requiring some skill even of the expert). The 

 consumer often gives up, leaving much edible portion, mixed with bones, 

 on the plate. This objection is now being overcome by filleting the fish at 

 some time prior to cooking. 



Fish generally is not as belly filling as meats and usually does not give 

 to the hearty eater as enduring a sense of having eaten a substantial meal. 

 When one has a stomach-upset or food poisoning, it is almost always ascribed 

 to fish (usually without proof) if any has been recently eaten. Supersti- 

 tions about harmful combinations of fish, lobsters, shrimp, and crab with 

 milk, ice cream, beer, etc., are widespread, and many people seem to think, 

 without diagnosis, that they are "allergic" to fish. Typhoid epidemics and 

 sewage pollutions of oysters and clams undoubtedly are a mental hazard 

 out of proportion to their reality. On the other hand, with our increasing 

 mechanization and diminishing demand for heavy foods, and with increas- 

 ing proportion of elderly people in the population, fish is a more and more 

 suitable source of animal protein and fat in the diet. 



b. UnjamUiarity of the Public with Fish. The multiplicity of kinds of fish 

 (about 150 fin and 40 shell), is undoubtedly a serious impediment to the 

 sale of fish. We have no statistics on the point, but it seems to us certain 

 that few American housewives in a typical inland city could identify the 

 common fishes which they might see on exhibition on ice in a restaurant 

 window. The same housewives could almost certainly identify all the ordi- 

 nary cuts of meat, as well as poultry. This unfamiliarity is aggravated by 

 the profusion of unstardardized common names, and ignorance of seasons 

 of abundance, and leads to diffidence in purchasing and to deception by 

 unscrupulous dealers. Being unfamiliar with methods of dressing and fillet- 

 ing, buyers of whole unpackaged fish leave this somewhat unpleasant work 

 to the fishmonger who is often himself unskillful, so that a disappointingly 

 small (and therefore expensive) edible portion is obtained from the gross 

 weight purchased. 



