138 U. S. BUREAU OF FISHERIES. 



however, that the dealers be^an to look for wider markets for their 

 product. Europe, more especially Germany, was prospected and a 

 profitable market soon developed, with the result tnat to-day frozen 

 Pacific salmon can be secured in nearly every town of any size in 

 western Europe, while large quantities are marketed all over our own 

 country. 



There are four important features in packing and using frozen 

 salmon : (1) To get fresh fish; (2) to keep them cold (about 15° above 

 zero) after they are fro^-jen; (3) to keep a coat of ice on them; and 

 (4) to allow them to thaw slowly in cold water or in the air before 

 cooking. 



In selecting salmon for freezing, only the finest and freshest of 

 each species are used. The current belief that freezing destroys the 

 flavor of the fish is erroneous, the flavor depending entirely upon 

 the condition before freezing, and the quicker they are frozen after 

 being caught the better will the natural flavor of the fish be pre- 

 served. Frozen salmon are just as wholesome as fresh, and their 

 chemical constituents are almost identical. The danger lies in the 

 temptation to freeze the fish after decomposition has set in, but, for- 

 tunately, this is now very rarely practiced in the salmon industry. 



The coho, or silver, and the chum, or dog, salmon are the choicest 

 of the salmons for freezing. The other species, except the red, or 

 sockeye, which is too oily and rarely frozen, are also frozen in vary- 

 ing quantities. The steelhead trout, which is ranked by the Pacific 

 coast dealers among the salmon, is considered the choicest fish of 

 all for freezing. 



Some of the most modern plants in the country are on this coast. 

 These have numerous freezers, generally, in which a temperature of 

 from 25° to 30° F. below zero can be maintained if desired, although 

 a temperature of more than 10° below zero is rarely ever required. 

 All freezing is by direct expansion and each freezer is piped with 

 about 2 feet of i^-inch pipe per cubic foot of freezing space. The 

 bunkers in the freezers are in pairs, generally nine pipes wide, spaced 

 10 inches apart. This leaves about a 3^-foot passage through the 

 center of each freezer opposite the swing doors. The salmon are laid 

 on metal sheets, which are placed on the tiers of pipes. 



After freezing the salmon are passed through openings in the rear 

 of the freezers into the glazing room, which has a temperature of 

 about 20° F., where they are dipped into water, and when removed 

 are covered with a thin glaze of ice, which may be thickened by 

 repeated dippings. This is an extra precaution to exclude the air 

 from the fish. 



After being thoroughly frozen and glazed, each fish is covered first 

 with a parclmaent, like rolls of butter, and then with a piece of 

 heavy brown paper. They are then packed in boxes holding about 

 250 pounds each, placed in cold-storage cars and shipped. 



The method of freezing fish in brine is now under serious consid- 

 eration by a number of fishermen and dealers A brine freezer 

 may be of small capacity and carried on a fishing boat or it may 

 be a freezer of large capacity at some central point convenient for 

 receiving the catches. In this method a strong brine solution, cooled 

 by circulation through crushed ice, is used for freezing the fish. By 

 this method large fish may be frozen in from 1 to 3 hours, a great 

 saving in time as compared with the method at present in use. 



