452 



IT. S. BUREAU OF FISHERIES 



The packers never overstock with codfish tongues if it can be 

 avoided, as in a year or two part of the tongue hardens, thus making 

 it worthless as food. 



Canning. — On the Atlantic coast a considerable quantity of cod 

 is canned annually under the name of " codfish flakes." An even 

 greater quantity of hake, haddock, and cod are canned together under 

 the name of " fish flakes.'" The opportunity for canning cod is 

 especially good on the Pacific coast. Several of the salmon canneries 

 are located in close proximity to the cod banks, and as these plants 

 already have the machinery and employees needed for carrying on 

 this work in addition to the canning of salmon, cod could be canned 

 much more cheaply than if a plant had to be erected especially for 

 the work. As no other members of the Gadida? other than the true 

 cod are available on the Pacific coast for this work, the product could 

 be sold under a cod label, which would enhance its value consider- 

 ably. In 1916 the Pacific American Fisheries Co. began the canning 

 of cod at its canneries along the Alaska Peninsula. Early in the 

 season, before the salmon appeared, several purse-seine vessels were 

 equipped with dories and hand lines and these fished on the North 

 Pacific and Bering Sea banks. The fish were brought in fresh and 

 canned. The following was the pack for the three years when 

 canning was practiced : 



In this experiment, as in most of the others undertaken in recent 

 years on this coast, the packers followed too closely the methods in 

 vogue in canning salmon, and as a result the product did not meet 

 with the favor it probably would have had if other methods more 

 suited to cod had been followed. 



There is no doubt in the author's mind but that the canning of 

 Pacific cod eventually will furnish an important consuming market 

 for this excellent fish, and it is the intention of the author to take 

 up immediately at the College of Fisheries, University of Washing- 

 ton, the problem of how best to can Pacific cod, and as soon as 

 satisfactory results are obtained they will be made public. 



Cod-liver oil. — At an early date in the fishery, oil was being ex- 

 tracted from the livers of cod. In 1866, 10,000 gallons were reported 

 as having been rendered, which statement seems somewhat of an 

 exaggeration when the then extent of the fishery is taken into 

 account. In 1879 Lynde & Hough are reported as bringing to San 

 Francisco 3,000 gallons of oil. In later years a small quantity was 



