4 V. S. BUREAU OF FISHERIES 



knife or, better still, a sharpened point of steel is used with a gauge 

 to prevent the point entering more than a quarter of an inch. The 

 universal practice in California is to cut four or five gashes along 

 the lateral line and two or three above the line in the thick portion 

 of the side. It is questionable whether or not this gives the best 

 results, as shorter and more numerous gashes along the lateral line 

 would probably serve better, and in most cases the gashes above the 

 line disfigure the fish rather than improve the curing. Large sides 

 may require scoring above the line, but small sides do not. In 

 Alaska and on the Columbia River a scoring wheel with sharpened 

 points that cut regular and numerous slits about three-quarters of 

 an inch long is used. The wheel is usually run once along the lateral 

 line, seldom above it. 



SPLITTING 



To prevent slipping, the fish is first hooked by the " collar " over 

 a sharpened nail in the table, the belly toward the splitter and head 

 to the right for a right-handed man. Four knife strokes split the 

 fish into two " sides," removing the backbone with the tail fin at- 

 tached. Two preliminary cuts are made posterior of the body cavity 

 to free the flesh there from the backbone; then one stroke of the 

 knife removes the right " side," leaving the dorsal fin attached to 

 the left "side," while the next stroke frees the backbone and tail. 

 Splitters are well-paid, skilled workmen and take pride in speed 

 and cutting " clean," that is, leaving very little meat attached to 

 the backbone. 



SLIMING 



After splitting, the sides are slid onto the sliming table, which 

 is provided with overhead water pipes and short sections of rubber 

 hose dropping to within a foot or so of the table to provide a stream 

 of water at each slimer's place around the edge of the table. In 

 Alaska a tank is used instead of the table, the fish being slimed on 

 board shelves at the tank's edge, and usually a loiife only is used 

 in the process. 



Loose ends of membrane are trimmed from the side and the 

 body cavity portion thoroughly scraped (skin side down) to remove 

 the blood from the veins. The chilling tank should then prevent the 

 surface veins from refilling with blood while curing. After scrap- 

 ing, the sides are turned skin up and washed off with a brush to 

 remove any slime that may remain. 



CHILLING TANK 



The chilling tank contains iced brine and receives the sides from 

 the scraping or sliming table. It is generally miscalled " sliming 

 tank," the name probably coming from Alaska, where a tank is 

 used instead of the scraping table. All slime should be removed in 

 the scraping and washing before the sides enter the chilling tank. 



The chilling tank is an important step in the curing and is the 

 one most frequently slighted. The chief object of chilling is to 

 prepare the sides for curing, the cold brine serving to partially 

 impregnate the outer layers of flesh — what might be called " case- 



