8 U. S. BUREAU OF FISHERIES. 



water by some other means. Three methods of doing this were tried 

 at the San Pedro laboratory, namely, steaming, cooking in brine, and 

 packing raw after brining and drying. 



Steaming has been tried before — in fact, the method was at one 

 time practiced on a considerable scale in California, but the practice 

 was discontinued. Later, the method was practiced at Santa Cruz 

 and Monterey, and the product found favor with the public. Steam- 

 ing causes the skin to break, both during the processing and after the 

 cooling. This effect was diminished by brining and drying, and oiling 

 the trays helped to prevent the fish from sticking to the trays. A 

 product was thus prepared that was apparently the equal, if not the 

 superior, of the usual fried-in-oil product. 



Good results were obtained also by precooking the fish in strong 

 brine instead of oil. The usual operation of brining the fish is omitted. 

 Preliminary drying was necessary, however, to prevent the skins from 

 breaking during the cooking, and precautions were also necessary to 

 prevent the fish from sticking to each other and to the trays. 



The third method of removing the water consisted of brining in 

 saturated brine, drying, canning, and processing. The brining is car- 

 ried as far as possible without excessively salting the fish. A thick 

 tomato sauce is used to take up the excess moisture released in the 

 processing. Certain common losses are prevented by this method, 

 but there is a disadvantage in the necessity of carrying out the process 

 within a few hours after the fish are landed. 



The investigator who did this work also visited the Maine sardine 

 industry during the summer in order to accjuaint himself with the 

 problems in that field and to throw any possible light on the methods 

 employed in California. 



SALTING OF PACIFIC COAST MACKEREL. 



Attention was also given by the San Pedro laboratory to the salting 

 of the Pacific coast mackerel {Scomber japonicus). The fish is, in 

 general, less fat than the Atlantic mackerel, and its flesh is more 

 likely to be dark in color. It was found, however, that the method 

 that had previously been found in the bureau's salting experiments 

 to be applicable in warm climates was here successful. This process 

 consists in using high purity salt, applied dry to perfectly fresh fish 

 that have been thoroughly cleaned of all blood and viscera. These 

 points all seem to be essential. Packers who have themselves hit 

 upon most of these points have found by experience that salt of 

 inferior quality produces inferior fish and that any blood left in the 

 fish darkens the fish. Freshness is also important, so much so that 

 salting aboard the boats seems advisable. 



PEARL ESSENCE. 



Pearl essence, an incidental product of the fisheries, has continued 

 to attract considerable attention, perhaps more because of its spec- 

 tacular beauty and novel application than because of its real impor- 

 tance. Nevertheless, the business of manufacturing imitation pearls, 

 which was at one time an exclusively European and Japanese indus- 

 try, has migrated to America to a verj^ large extent. New York city 

 and environs are now the center of a considerable imitation-pearl 



