PACIFIC COD FISHERIES 



457 



and preparing the fish should be printed; if the fish is improperly 

 prepared by a cook unfamiliar with it, those who partake of it are 

 not likely to want it again. 



COMPARATIVE ANALYSES OF PACIFIC AND ATLANTIC COD 



Much has been said and written about the alleged superiority of 

 Atlantic over Pacific cod. While there are a number of analyses 

 of Atlantic cod extant, the same, unfortunately, is not true of the 

 Pacific cod. The only one available is that made for the Robinson 

 Fisheries Co., of Anacortes, Wash., and the subject was a sample of 

 shredded Pacific cod. Fortunately, there is one analysis of Atlantic 

 shredded cod with which it can be compared. The analyses follow: 



Comparison of Pacific and Atlantic shredded codfish 



Analysis made by Stillwell & Gladding, New York, N. Y. 



Foods and Their Adulteration, by Dr. Harvey W. Wiley, p. 126. Philadelphia, 1907. 



REDDENING OF COD 



A source of considerable expense and annoyance to the codfish 

 packers is the occasional reddening of the fish. While not so common 

 on the Pacific coast as on the Atlantic and European coasts, due to 

 the much lower mean temperature during the warm months and 

 possibly the grade of salt used, yet it does appear at times. 



Codfish and some other salt-cured fish are subject to spoilage 

 when exposed to a temperature above 65° F. The spoilage is mani- 

 fested by the surface of the fish turning red. This is an old com- 

 plaint on both coasts and in Europe, and has been increasingly 

 expensive on the Atlantic coast, as the expansion of the industry has 

 necessitated the marketing of greater and greater quantities of fish 

 during the warm months of the year. It appears only on the dry- 

 salted fish, as fish completely submerged in pickle seems to be immune 

 so long as it is retained there. 



The fist sign of redness appears when the dried fish are stored on 

 the ground floor and before the skinning and packing are done, but 

 frequently it may not appear until many days after the fish has been 

 packed and shipped. -* 



Reddening is essentially a surface infection. Except as it follows 

 fissures in the muscles, cuts, or breaks where the air has free access, 

 it does not appear below the surface. On the whole fish the 

 favorite point of attack is near the backbone, and this is due 

 to the greater thickness of flesh, which insures more moisture at all 

 times. It is more often found upon the outside of the bricks or 

 tablets. Sometimes the affected fish is of a pale, pink color, at 

 other times a bright red. 



