THE SARDINE, MACKEREL, AND HERRING FISHERIES 133 



The sardine fishing season is set by an act of legislature and usually 

 starts in Southern California in September, while the Monterey area 

 usually starts a month earlier. By the end of January the sardine season 

 usually comes to a close but may, under certain circumstances, be extended 

 beyond this limit. 



The fishing areas for sardine in Southern California are usually only 

 some few hours' run from the cannery. The sardines arriving at the dock- 

 side are, therefore, generally in a very good condition. 



Methods of Processing. The methods used for the unloading of the 

 sardine catch varies some in various localities but is usually uniform in 

 any one packing area. At Terminal Island the sardine boats tie up at 

 the elevator piers jutting out from the dockside, and the sardines are 

 either bailed out of the hold of the boat onto the elevator which trans- 

 ports the sardines into the cannery or pumped through a 9-inch tubular 

 hose by a Yoeman pump from the hold onto the elevator and then into 

 the cannery. A somewhat different arrangement is used in Monterey, 

 where an 8-inch pipe extends along the bottom of the bay to a rectangular 

 hopper float at the surface about 100 yards off shore into which the 

 sardine boats discharge their cargo of sardines. The hopper is provided 

 with an overflow so that sea water can flow into the hopper. A powerful 

 pump located ashore sucks the sardines and the water into the cannery 

 as the fishermen bail the sardines from the boat into the hopper. 



At the cannery the sardines are weighed and flumed to the receiving 

 tanks. The weighing is done by discharging the sardines from an over- 

 head hopper into weighing buckets holding 500 pounds per bucket. The 

 number of 500-pound buckets is recorded, and after weighing, the 

 buckets are emptied and the sardines are flumed to the receiving tanks. 

 An automatic weighing device which weighs the sardines continuously 

 as they pass over a conveyor belt and registers the integrated weights 

 has been in use in some sardine canneries. This method of recording the 

 catch proved unpopular, and the simpler method of weighing the catch 

 in 500-pound capacity buckets is now again in general use. 



The receiving tanks, which receive the sardines after they have been 

 weighed, are provided with refrigeration so that the sardines may be 

 held there in chilled sea water until they are ready to be cut. By opening 

 a sliding door located at the base of the receiving tanks, the sardines 

 flow out on the cutting table where cannery workers place the sardines 

 in a deeply slotted conveyor belt so arranged that the sardines, when 

 placed in 'these slots, back up, this holds the fish firmly. The conveyor 

 belt then carries the sardines past two revolving, circular knives which 

 cut off the heads and tails and reduce the size of the sardine so that 

 they will readily fit into the can size they are intended for. In a sub- 



