436 U. S. BUREAU OF FISHERIES 



tion of any new and improved methods and would not give the nets a 

 fair trial. 



DRESSING THE FISH 



As soon as enough fish accumulate on the deck the dress gang 

 begins its work. The " throater " seizes the fish by the head with 

 his left hand, places the back on the edge of a table or tub, and by 

 means of a short knife with pointed end makes a cut in each side of 

 the throat just behind the gills (the front of the throat has pre- 

 viously been cut by the fisherman in order to bleed the fish), and 

 another slit is made from the belly to the vent. The "header" then 

 receives the fish and presses it backward across the edge of the table 

 or tub, which results in breaking off the head at the first vertebra. 

 With his left hand he then opens the belly and tears out the viscera. 

 The fish is then passed on to the "splitter," the most important 

 member of the gang, who places the back of the fish against a cleat 

 on a board, and by means of a short, heavy knife, rounded at the end 

 and with the blade slightly curved flatwise, continues the split down 

 the belly to near the end of the tail, taking care to keep near the 

 backbone. At about three-fifths of the distance from the neck to 

 the tail the backbone is cut across and is loosened, so that the opera- 

 tor can catch the end in his fingers. Grasping this with his left 

 hand he cuts under it toward the head of the fish and separates the 

 upper part of the backbone from the fish. In this operation the 

 knife blade is kept close to the backbone to prevent loss of flesh, 

 and a good splitter will drive the knife no deeper than is absolutely 

 necessary, as otherwise the thick flesh at the back would be cut almost 

 in two, thus spoiling the fish for middles. The sounds are not saved, 

 and only rarely are the livers saved on the vessels. 



Recently that wonderful machine, the " iron chink," used in the 

 salmon canneries to cut off the head and tail of a salmon, remove the 

 fins, split the fish down the bell}', and remove the entrails, and then 

 slime or clean the fish, was adapted for use in dressing and cleaning 

 codfish. In addition to the operations noted above the machine re- 

 moves the backbone and does the work better than the splitter can 

 do it by hand, and, of course, at vastly greater speed. Several of 

 these machines have been installed in plants on the Atlantic coast, 

 where they have proved eminently satisfactory. 



The fish are then passed to the "black skinner," who, with an old 

 glove or a piece of bagging, rubs off the nape skins or membrane 

 covering the napes, also any blood spots, and then drops the fish 

 into a tub of salt water. Here lesser members of the gang, who 

 are called "idlers," souse the fish until they are thoroughly clean, 

 when they are removed and passed through a chute into the hold, 

 where the " salters " receive them. 



The salters lay the fish on their backs, with napes and tails alter- 

 nating, with the exception of the top layer, which is turned back 

 up. A liberal sprinkling of salt is thrown over each layer, an 

 especially heavy portion being put on where the fish come in contact 

 with partitions or the sides of the vessel. The kenches are about 4 

 feet deep and extend from side to side of the vessel and the full 

 height of the hold. The first kench usually is started in the forward 

 part of the hold, and the Salter works toward the after part. As the 



