SALTING OF OTHER FISH 387 



The standard barrel used is one of 100-kilos (220-pounds) capacity. The 

 herring are packed directly in the barrels without any preliminary rousing or 

 dredging. A sprinkling of salt is placed on the bottom of the barrel, then a tier 

 of herring with their backs down and slightly slanted. Packing is fairly loose. 

 After covering with salt, a second tier is laid at right angles to the first. This 

 is continued until the barrel is filled. About 70 pounds of salt are used per barrel. 

 At this stage the barrels may be headed and filled with 100° Sal. brine, or allowed 

 to stand for a day or two to permit settling. In the second case another two or 

 three tiers of fish can be added before heading and brining. Eight to 10 days are 

 allowed for curing, after which time the barrels are reopened and refilled to take 

 care of shrinkage. Ordinarily in refilling it takes 1 barrel to refill 4 of the finished. 

 Heading, brining, stenciling the grade, etc. completes the process. 



In Norway a combination of the round cure with "after-gibbing" is often used 

 in salting the winter and spring herring. At times these herring are caught in such 

 tremendous quantities that it is impossible, because of insufficient help and space, 

 to gib and pack the fish in barrels upon arrival at the plant. As a time and space 

 saver the herring are salted in the round condition in large vats or tanks. Many 

 of these are constructed of concrete and will hold from 1,500 to 2,000 barrels of 

 herring. A number of plants have a total curing capacity of from 30,000 to 40,000 

 barrels. After the herring are sufficiently cured and the rush is over, they are 

 removed from the tanks for further processing. The gibbing is done with scissors, 

 as previously described, after which the fish are graded for size in separate bins 

 or tubs; 100 kilos (220 pounds) are weighed and packed in each barrel in the 

 usual manner. This is followed by the customary heading, brining, and stenciling 

 or branding. 



The Salting of Alewives 



Alewives or river herring are caught and cured along the entire eastern sea- 

 board of the United States from Maine to Florida, but the salting industry is cen- 

 tered in Maine, Massachusetts, Maryland, Virginia, and North Carolina. These 

 fish, which closely resemble the sea herring in appearance, are anadromous in 

 their habits and run up the coastal streams in the spring to spawn. The run ex- 

 tends from January to March in Florida and gets progressively later to the north, 

 showing in the rivers of Maine and Massachusetts in June and July. 



Corned Alewives. Of the total production of salted alewives 7,094,950 pounds 

 in 1945, by far the major portion, 5,914,250 pounds, were "corned" or lightly 

 salted for prompt shipment to the trade. In Virginia and North Carolina large 

 amounts of river herring are cured and marketed for immediate consumption early 

 in the season while the weather is cool. / 



Upon arrival at the packing plants the fish are cleaned by cutting ofiF the head, 

 splitting the belly, and removing all the entrails. This work is usually done by 



