554 U. S. BUREAU OF FISHERIES 



freezers put the markings on both ends for convenience. Trade-marks 

 are put on the sides. 



In several of the States there are cold-storage laws that regulate 

 the conditions of storage of fish. Most of them prescribe a limit to 

 the length of time frozen fish may be kept in storage, and it is for 

 this reason that it is important that these markings be accurate and 

 plain. 



For shipment, boxes are greatly strengthened by strapping with 

 metal straps or tying with wire. For tying with wire handy and 

 efficient little machines are available that 'tie a box in' a few seconds. 

 For export the steamship companies require that the boxes be 

 strapped or wire-tied. 



FREEZING IN ORIGINAL CONTAINERS 



Some fishery products are frozen in the wooden boxes or other 

 containers in which they were originally packed. Finnan haddies, 

 smoked fish, smoked fillets, squid, pulpo or octopus, and smelts often 

 are placed directly in the cold-storage rooms without the advantages 

 of the lower temperature of the sharp freezer. Examination of the 

 frozen products shows that such products, especially the fillets 

 (smoked or fresh), are seriously injured by internal crystallization 

 when frozen by this method. Smelts do not seem to be injured so 

 much by this treatment. 



STORING FROZEN FISH 



The very best quality in fish after it has been frozen, stored, and 

 finally defrosted can be expected only if the best practice has been 

 followed throughout the entire process, at each stage of which poor 

 practice may easily result in more or less serious impairment of qual- 

 ity. While it may be true that the freezing proper is the most im- 

 portant stage of the process, holding more possibilities of injury 

 or good preservation than any other, it is only little more important 

 than the methods followed in storage ; for many pounds of fish reach 

 the storerooms in excellent condition, only to emerge dried, rusty, 

 and insipid. Good storage is much more than merely putting 

 frozen fish in a room below freezing in temperature and keeping 

 them there until they are wanted. Activities if not prevented will 

 be going on slowly but steadily 24 hours a day, until in a few 

 months the best edible qualities have departed and a mere dry and 

 fibrous ghost of the original fish remains. 



Briefly stated, the two great enemies of frozen fish in storage are 

 rusting and drying; the principal combatives are low temperature 

 and heavy glazing. Low temperature arrests rusting and promotes 

 drying; glazing, aided by other protective means, prevents drying 

 and helps to prevent rusting. These have been the governing factors 

 in the development of methods of storage now practiced. Some 

 reference books on refrigeration give the " proper " temperatures 

 for storing different varieties of fish, and the idea seems to prevail 

 elsewhere that different kinds of fish require different storage tem- 

 peratures. General experience in cold storage as now practiced indi- 

 cates that the temperature should be as low as is possible and 

 economical for all kinds of fish, preferably from 0° to 5° F. The 



