SALTING OF OTHER FISH 383 



used. In the repack the fish are usually arranged in layers or tiers, with the backs 

 down and on a slight slant. Each layer receives a sprinkling of salt, about 20 

 pounds being used per barrel. The barrels are then headed and filled with fresh 

 100° Sal. brine. Small quantities of the salted round herring are purchased by 

 the ultimate consumer, but most of it is sold to the smokers for manufacture into 

 smoked bloaters. 



A variation of this cure is the so-called dry-salted or Oriental cure as practiced 

 on the Pacific Coast, especially in British Columbia, for shipment to the Orient, 

 especially China, where salt is at a premium. The fish are cured round in large 

 tanks or vats exactly as previously described. However, after being thoroughly 

 cured the herring are shoveled out of the tanks onto the floor, where they are 

 allowed to drain for 1 to 2 days. All excess salt from the curing tanks is spread 

 on top during this draining period. The herring are next shoveled into large 

 wooden boxes holding from 425 to 450 pounds, with the salt being mixed in as 

 the boxes are filled. If the supply of excess used salt is meager, some additional 

 new salt must be added. After the covers are nailed on, the boxes are ready for 

 shipment. This same method of curing and repacking has been employed for 

 salting large herring, which are later prepared as smoked bloaters. 



Split Cure. Although this method is not important from the standpoint of 

 volume, it has been used for large herring in New England and eastern Canada. 

 The fish are first washed in brine to set the scales and to facilitate handling. The 

 bellies are split down to the vent and the gills and viscera removed. The milt and 

 roe are usually taken out also. After cleaning, the fish are soaked in a fight brine 

 or clean salt water for 2 or 3 hours to remove the blood and slime. They are next 

 drained and then packed in large barrels or vats. In packing the fish are laid with 

 the belly cavities up, which are filled with salt. In addition some salt is scat- 

 tered over each layer, with a total of about 35 pounds of salt for each 100 pounds 

 of cleaned herring. Split herring cure in about 7 days, after which they are ready 

 for repacking in barrels of 200-pound capacity. In the repack the fish are laid 

 straight on their backs, with each succeeding layer crosswise to the one below 

 and with a very light sprinkling of salt over each layer. The barrels are then 

 headed and filled with full strength brine. 



Scotch Cure. The chief consumer markets for salt herring in the United States 

 have always been in the large cities of the east and midwest, with their large 

 foreign population centers. This demand, especially with the Jewish trade, has 

 always been predominantly for salted herring cured by this method, which, of 

 course, originated and developed in Scotland. In fact before World War I imports 

 from Scotland supplied the entire market for this type of salt herring, which was 

 around 200,000 barrels per year at that time. The effectiveness of the German 

 submarines during that war halted the importation of all salted herring from 

 Europe, thus forcing New York and other consuming centers to look elsewhere 

 for supplies. Several districts in North America, among them Newfoundland, 

 British Columbia, and Alaska, began to supply the demand. The U. S. Bureau of 

 Fisheries sent instructors to Alaska to assist in the introduction and development 

 of the Scotch cure in that area. The results were remarkable as evidenced by these 

 pack figures: 1915-8,691 barrels; 1916-18,296 barrels; 1917-23,557 barrels; and 

 1918—105,394 barrels. There was a temporary slump for a few years, followed 

 by a peak of 145,325 barrels in 1922 and 139,157 barrels in 1925. Since that 



