SALTING OF OTHER FISH 389 



to teach the curers the proper procedure for curing mackerel for this market. One 

 of these instuctors, C. S. Haaland (1924), has described the preparation of salted 

 mackerel as follows: 



"It is of great importance that the mackerel be brought from the nets to the 

 saltery as quickly as possible, so that they can be handled while in fresh condi- 

 tion, and only enough should be taken at one time so they can be prepared before 

 the fish become soft. If it is necessary to transport the mackerel some distance, 

 they should be handled in boxes containing about 100 pounds each. The fish 

 should be rushed to the plant and work started immediately upon arrival to spUt 

 and clean them. The splitting proceeds as follows: the mackerel is held in the left 

 hand and with the knife in the right hand it is split along the backbone, with 

 one cut of the knife, from the head to the tail. The gills and all viscera are then 

 removed and the fish thrown in tubs of water to wash away the blood. In order 

 to remove the blood along the backbone each fish is scrubbed with a stiff brush. 

 After scrubbing, the mackerel are placed in other tubs of fresh water for about 

 3 hours. The water should be changed several times during this soaking. When 

 the fish have soaked until they are white and free from blood, they are dipped 

 out for salting. If the mackerel have not been 'ploughed' or 'reamed' by making a 

 cut on each side of the belly at the time of splitting, this is done now as they are 

 removed from the soaking water. These cuts must be made so shallow that they 

 do not penetrate the skin. In the salting process one person dredges or rouses the 

 mackerel in fine salt; then passes them to another, who lays and salts them in the 

 barrel. For salting it is best to use Mediterranean sea salt, Trapani or St. Ybes, 

 at the rate of 1 barrel of salt to 3 barrels of mackerel. The fish are laid in the 

 barrels, flesh side up with the exception of the two top tiers, which have the 

 skin up. The filled barrels are headed up, filled with brine, and laid on their 

 bilges. It is not advisable to let the barrels stand on end to allow the fish to 

 settle. The recommended procedure is to head, fill, and lay over the barrels as 

 quickly as possible after packing. Care must be taken to see that the barrels are 

 always well filled with brine. At first it may be necessary to refill the brine every 

 other day to be sure that the barrels are tight. 



"The mackerel should remain in the salt at least 3 weeks so they are well 

 'struck' before beginning the repacking for export. In repacking the fish are 

 dumped from the original barrels into a tub or vat of brine to wash off the excess 

 salt and any foreign material that may be present. From the brine they are 

 dumped onto a table of convenient height and sorted into several grades as follows: 



No. 0, up to 130 fish per barrel 



" 1, " " 180 " " " 



" 2, " " 250 " " " 



" 3, " " 350 " " " 



" 4, " " 450 " " " 



" 5, " " 550 " " " 



92 kilograms (202 pounds) of a grade are weighed out for each barrel. In re- 

 packing the fish are laid as before with the flesh side up, except for the two top 

 tiers, which are skin up. Each layer is sprinkled lightly with salt, using about 1 

 barrel of salt to 7 or 8 barrels of mackerel. When filled the barrels are headed, 

 filled with 100° Sal. brine, and laid on their sides. For best appearance of the 



