PACIFIC SALMON FISHERIES 537 



In Germany, the principal market for mild-cured salmon, nearly 

 all of the fish are smoked. One of the most popular ways of using 

 the smoked salmon is in the making of sandwiches, and probably 

 the greater portion of these are used in the beer halls and the auto- 

 matic restaurants in that country. 



PICKLING 



The earliest method of preserving salmon on the coast was by 

 pickling. At times this industry attained to large proportions, but 

 during the last 10 years it has been declining, largely because the 

 canners are able to pay more for the raw fish than the salters. All 

 species of salmon are pickled, but the most popular is the red salmon. 



In dressing salmon for pickling the head is removed, the fish 

 split along the back, the cut ending with a downward curve on the 

 tail. The viscera and two-thirds of the backbone are removed, and 

 the blood, gurry, and black stomach membrane scraped away. The 

 fish are then thoroughly scrubbed and washed in cold water. They 

 are next placed in piclding butts with about 15 pounds of half-ground 

 salt to every 100 pounds of fish. The fish should be laid in a tier, 

 flesh side up, and the salt well sprinkled over it, repeating until the 

 tank is full. Several boards are then laid across the fish and these 

 are weighted dow^n with large stones in order to keep the fish sub- 

 merged in the piclde which will form. The fish remain here about 

 one week, the brine being held at about 90°. They are then removed, 

 rubbed clean with a scrub brush, and repacked in market barrels, 

 one sack of salt being used to every three barrels of 200 pounds each. 

 About 40 to 52 red salmon, 25 to 35 coho salmon, 70 to 80 humpback 

 salmon, 10 to 14 king salmon, and 25 to 30 chum salmon are required 

 in packing a barrel of pickled salmon. 



A few salteries also pack ''bellies." This product is merely the 

 belly of the fish, which is the fattest portion, and as most of the 

 packers threw away the rest of the fish, thus causing a very large 

 waste of choice food, this method has come under the ban of the law 

 in some of the coast States and in Alaska. As a result, but few 

 "bellies" are packed now, and most of these only when some economic 

 use is made of the remainder. Humpback salmon furnish the major 

 part of the "belly" pack. 



In preparing salmon bellies, the operator first cuts off the two 

 pectoral fins, and then removes the head, care being taken to follow 

 the curve of the body until the backbone is reached, which should 

 then be severed straight across. With the smaller salmon the fish is 

 then turned on its back, and the operator inserts his knife in the 

 body just above the backbone and cuts down through the body, the 

 knife coming out just in front of the vent. If properly done, the cut 

 will come close to the upper wall of the stomach. With large king 

 salmon it is sometimes necessary to make the cut first on one side, 

 then turn the fish over and make the cut on the other side. The belly 

 is then laid flat on the cutting table and the membrane at one end 

 cut so the belly w^ill lie flat. The bellies are then washed and salted 

 the same as hard-salted salmon. 



When bellies are cut, the backs are saved and either dried in the 

 open air, without salt, or else pickled. 



With large kings, the operator, after the belly has been cut out, 

 scrapes the inside of the remainder of the carcass. The knife is then 



