MISCELLANEOUS SHELLFISH INDUSTRIES 673 



are cooked again for an hour. After the second cooking the shellfish are smoked 

 for a day with charcoal smoke. They are rinsed in boiling water and finally dried 

 for about 6 weeks; after rinsing in warm water the dried abalones are ready for 

 use. 



This drying process causes a loss in weight of approximately 90 per cent. The 

 dried abalones are brown, hard, and tough, yet they can be sliced with a sharp 

 knife. The Chinese stew this dried product after soaking or grind it into a pow- 

 der and use the pulverized abalone for the preparation of soup. 



Canning. After its removal from the shell the abalone is prepared by cutting 

 away the visceral mass, washing, and then brining for about 48 hours. The black 

 envelope around the foot is removed. For the American trade only the foot muscle 

 is minced and prepared for canning, but, for the oriental trade both the foot 

 muscle and the mantle are cut into cubes and canned. 



The minced meat is packed into tin cans which are then exhausted for 45 min- 

 utes at a low temperature. The exhausted cans are sealed and sterilized in a retort 

 under 15-pounds steam pressure for 1 hour. After cooking, the cans are cooled 

 with a spray of cold water, labeled, and packed into cases. 



By-products. The shell products can scarcely be considered as by-products as 

 they are of much greater value than the preserved meat. Many important articles 

 are manufactured from the mother-of-pearl with which the shells are lined, includ- 

 ing the following: cuff buttons, knife handles, paper knives, inkstands, buttons, 

 and many other useful ornamental articles. This industry is described in Chap- 

 ter 8. 



Glue has been prepared from the viscera. 



Pearls and blister pearls are often found in abalones (Chapters 7 and 8). 



Sea Mussels 



Possibilities of the Industry. Sea mussels are widely distributed along the coast 

 of North America, and are abundant on the Atlantic Coast from North Carolina 

 northward and on the Pacific Coast from San Francisco to Alaska. They usually 

 grow in large beds on the surface of mud or sand along the low-tide mark, and 

 often extend to a level several feet below low-tide water; they are also found 

 in deeper water up to 100 fathoms. 



Curiously, while the oyster, clam, and scallop have been commercially exploited 

 in America, the sea mussel, which is an important European shellfish, has been 

 neglected. Although some are sold in the shell in New York, San Francisco, Seattle, 

 and other important fish markets, they have never come into general use as a food. 

 In 1945 only 4.5,773 standard cases of 48 pounds each were canned. A small 

 quantity of mussels are preserved by pickling in vinegar. Mussels have a limited 

 use as fertilizer, and some are used as fish bait. The latest available figures rela- 

 tive to the production of sea mussels by states are given in Table 150 (p. 674) . 



In Europe the demand for mussels for food and bait is so great that the natural 

 supply is unable to meet it; therefore, much attention has been given to mussel 

 culture. Great Britain, Ireland, Holland, and France consume large quantities of 

 mussels annually. Thousands of "bouchots" or mussel hedges dot the French coast. 

 French mussel culture dates back to the 13th century, when an Irishman named 

 Walton is said to have originated the "bouchot" system; this has been successfully 

 applied ever since. Walton observed that mussels grew larger and finer flavored on 



