Commercial Shark Fishing in the Caribbean Area 57 



Jrying 



After the salting is completed, shake off the loose salt 

 and wash the fillets. Fresh water is preferable, but if this 

 is not available, clean sea water will do. Do not leave the 

 fillets lying in the water; the washing of each fillet should 

 not take more than a half minute. 



The drying process is helped if, at this stage, the fillets 

 are fed through a pair of rollers and squeezed. The 

 squeezing should not be too severe and should not reduce 

 the thickness of the fillet by more than a half. Two 

 simple wooden rollers will do the trick as in a simple, 

 hand operated clothes mangle, except that the gap be- 

 tween the rollers should be greater. Alternatively, a 

 simple hand press, like that described in the next Section 

 7 (see Figure 16) for pressing fish meal, will do. This 

 pressing merely assists the drying and makes the product 

 look more tidy. If rollers or presses are not available, 

 this step can be left out. Now start the drying. 



The best drying is what is known as "shade-drying" — 

 that is, the drying fish should be laid out in a good breeze 

 but protected from the hot sun. The best drying racks 

 are made from 1-inch mesh chicken wire, but if this is not 

 available, quite satisfactory ones can be made from split 

 bamboo, withes, or the midribs of coconut frond. The 

 racks should allow the freest passage to air. They 

 should be at least 1 foot clear of the ground and erected 

 in a place and manner so that they will not be troubled 

 by insects. A satisfactory shade from strong sun can be 

 made from coconut boughs or palm leaves but should be 

 placed well above the drying racks, so as to allow a free 

 draft. A good draft of air helps with the drying more 

 than anything else. 



The salted, washed fillets (also pressed if possible), are 

 laid out on these racks, no one fillet touching another. 

 For the first day of drying, they should be turned every 

 two hours, for the second day every 4 hours, and from 

 then on, once every six hours. The fillets must be brought 

 in and stacked every night or the dew will spoil them; 

 and they should be brought in whenever there is any 

 likelihood of rain. If the shade-drying seems to be taking 

 too long, the fillets can be exposed for limited periods to 



