42 Commercial Shark Fishing in the Caribbean Area 



from Sheffield Cutters Manufacturers Association, Shef- 

 field, England, and from the Trade Commissioner for the 

 British West Indies and British Guiana, 37 Board of 

 Trade Building, Montreal, P.Q., Canada. The hide is 

 stretched on a "beaming board", a stout board about 5 

 feet long and 3 feet wide with a curvature matching that 

 of the beaming knife. The surface of this board must be 

 smooth and kept free from particles of meat or dirt. 



One end of the beaming board rests on the floor and 

 the other end has a support which keeps it about the level 

 of a man's waist. The flesher leans against the board 

 and removes the surplus flesh by pushing the knife away 

 from him (never pulling it towards him). 



While the hide is on the beaming board, trim off the 

 meat which may hang over after fleshing, especially 

 around the fin holes. Make sure that the hide is cut 

 back far enough to give clean, flesh-free edges as this 

 will assist in preserving the hide. Next, split the tail 

 end by cutting from the hole around the ventral fins and 

 vent as shown in Figure 7, through the hole left by the 

 anal fin and then in a straight line to the end of the hide. 

 The resulting hide is shaped as in Figure 8. A good man 

 can flesh and trim a hide in 10 to 15 minutes, but it is 

 foolish to hurry until you are expert. The fleshed, 

 trimmed hide should be immediately washed clean of all 

 slime and blood in clean sea water. It is now ready for 

 "curing", and this should be commenced without delay. 



Curing 



Curing is done on a platform with a slight slope so that 

 the water and brine can run off. Sprinkle some salt on 

 the inclined platform and lay the first hide, flesh side up 

 flat on top of it. See that there are no creases or large 

 folds in it. Spread a generous amount of salt over all 

 portions of this flesh surface of the hide, and as a precau- 

 tion, rub sonic extra salt along the cut edges. On top 

 of this first hide, place the second one, flesh side up and 

 treal it in the same manner; repeat this process until the 

 pile is 3 or 4 feet high. Hides will take from 3 to 5 days 

 to cine and should not be allowed to stand for more than 



