In the past year this project has 

 been confined largely to groundfish 

 vessels operating oat of Gloacester, 

 Mass. Vessels operating out of Boston 

 and New Bedford were studied the 

 previous year. During the period cov- 

 ered by this report, the principal in- 

 vestigator made trips on 17 fishing 

 vessels and instructed the crews in 

 the proper nnethods of icing, washing, 

 and general handling of the fish and in 

 maintaining the fish holds in a sanitary 

 condition. Written recommendations 

 were also furnished to the vessel 

 owners, in which were outlined the 

 steps that should be taken to innprove 

 handling and sanitary conditions. In 

 addition, dockside inspections of over 

 36 fishing vessels were made to obtain 

 information on the handling nnethods 

 and icing protection provided. 



This study has been instrumental in 

 improving the icing, handling, and sani- 

 tary practices on some of these ves- 

 sels and in providing information nec- 

 essary for establishing and carrying 

 out Bureau research programs aimed 

 at further improving conditions on fish- 

 ing vessels. The contract officially ter- 

 nninated during June 1959. 



Improved Handling of Fish on 

 Maine Fishing Vessels 



A study similar to that described for 

 innproving the quality of fish landed by 

 Massachusetts fishing vessels is also 

 being carried out on Maine fishing ves- 

 sels. This latter study is being con- 

 ducted under contract by the Maine 

 Department of Sea and Shore Fisheries, 

 which has retained a principal investi- 

 gator to instruct the owners and crews 

 in the proper icing and handling of fish 

 on the vessel and in the maintenance of 

 proper sanitation in the fish hold. 



During the past year, the principal 

 investigator made trips on 10 fishing 

 vessels and furnished the owners and 

 crews of these vessels with written 

 recommendations concerning the 

 proper handling and icing of the catch. 

 He also made dockside inspections of 

 these and 22 other vessels todetermine 

 if improvements in quality results fronn 

 this program. These inspections 

 showed that in many instances the rec- 



ommendations of the principal investi- 

 gator are being followed, and are re- 

 sulting in the landing of better quality 

 fish. Because of the favorable results 

 obtained, the State of Maine is planning 

 to continue this work after termination 

 of this contract in October of 1959. 



FISHERY PRODUCTS INSPECTION 

 AND CERTIFICATION SERVICE 



The youngest member of the various 

 units of the East Boston Laboratory is 

 the Inspection Service which super- 

 vises the inspection and grading of 

 fishery products in Region 3. Being a 

 youngster, this unit suffered "growing 

 pains," but it can now be said that the 

 Inspection Unit has found its place in 

 the fishing industry. 



A few statistics will show how in- 

 spection has progressed. From July 

 1958 through June 1959, the number 

 of plants in this region packing fishery 

 products under the Department's Con- 

 tinuous Inspection Service increased 

 from six to eight. During this sanne 

 period the number of USDI inspectors 

 increased fronn 8 to 14. Also, more 

 than 40 million pounds of fishery prod- 

 ucts were packed under the continuous 

 inspection program in this area during 

 this period, the greatest part of which 

 displayed the Department's Grade A 

 shield or continuous inspection shield. 



Figure 15.--lnspector grading fish sticks. 



In addition, this laboratory was re- 

 sponsible for the inspection of over 

 9 million pounds of fishery products on 

 a lot- inspection basis. This service 



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