444 MARINE PRODUCTS OF COMMERCE 



After remaining in the brine from 20 minutes to a half hour, they are taken to another 

 department and placed on tables. Here they are placed in long rows of little grooves in 

 which a wire rod is run through the eye of each fish. Each rod, with 22 fish on it, 

 is then hung on a flat frame, 30 rods on each frame, making 660 fish on a frame. Ten 

 of these frames are then placed one above the other, with the 6,600 fish hanging from 

 them, in a crate or larger frame. This is wheeled into one of the many smoking ovens, 

 where the fish are smoked for 30 minutes or so, the length of time depending upon the 

 condition of the fish. They should be lightly smoked and cooked, but not enough to 

 brown them, as the fine silvery finish must be retained for canning. 



"The fish are tlien taken from the smoking ovens to the cutting machine, where their 

 heads are removed. The fish are then sorted by hand ready for packing in uniform 

 sizes in the cans. Girls then pack the fish in the cans by hand. 



"Before the lid is put on the can, it is put through a machine that places a small 

 rubber band inside the lid. The lid-fastening machines then clasp and hermetically seal 

 the Hd on tlie can. No solder is used in covering and fastening the lids nor in making 

 either lids or cans. The cans are then sterilized by intense heat, varying according to 

 the size of the can. Later the cans are labeled, the key inserted, and the tins wrapped 

 in paper and packed 100 to the case. For all fish not packed in oil, tins lacquered on the 

 inside are used. This is to prevent corrosion of the tin. Oil itself prevents corrosion." 



Formerly a considerable quantity of Norwegian sardines were packed with 

 olive oil. This is now so expensive that it has been replaced by herring (slid) 

 oil. The sardine oil used is deodorized and winterized and added to the cans by 

 machine after the fish are packed in the can. The Norwegian industry packs both 

 herring (sild) and brisling as sardines. 



French Sardine Industry. The French sardine is prepared from the pilchard 

 (Clupea pilchardus), which is caught extensively off the west coast of France, 

 Portugal, and Spain. The fish are taken in nets, being attracted to the fishing 

 grounds by the use of cod roe as bait. The season for pilchards is from May to 

 September. Fishing is generally a separate business from the canning, the canners 

 buying their supply of fish from fishermen. 



On arrival at the canneries the fish are sprinkled lightly with salt, and the head 

 and viscera are removed by hand. They are immediately transferred to strong 

 brine for K to 1 hour, after which they are put into wicker baskets and washed. 

 The drying operation is the next step, the fish being arranged vertically tails up 

 in special wire-meshed trays and dried in the open air; in damp or rainy weather 

 artificial heat is generally used. When sufficiently dried the fish are fried in the 

 same trays by immersing them in tanks of hot oil. Peanut oil is often used for 

 frying as well as olive oil. The time for frying depends on the size and dryness 

 of the fish, but is usually about 2 minutes. The surplus oil is allowed to drain off 

 on a sloping table; after cooling, the fish are packed usually in olive or peanut oil, 

 in cans. The covers (in this case the bottoms) of the cans are soldered on by hand, 

 the can being revolved on a small, foot-operated turntable. The cans are processed 

 by immersion in boiling water for 2 hours. 



Various essential oils and other ingredients, such as oil of lemon, cloves, bay, 

 truflSes, and pickles, are used to give added flavor to French sardines. They are 

 put up in cans of a large variety of sizes and shapes. The standard type is the 

 "quarter" can which usually holds from 8 to 14 fish. The "half" can is twice as 

 large and the "eighth" one-half as large. Oval and oblong cans of special design 

 are also common. The quality of sardines depends largely on proper salting and 



