FISHERY INDUSTRIES OF THE UNITED STATES. “4 
how to prepare it. West-coast whaling companies have provided a 
cold-storage and distributing plant with a capacity of about 3,000 
tons, a 500-ton freezing plant, a refrigeration steamer, and a cannery 
with a capacity of 50,000 cases. In 1918, 30,000 cases of the meat 
were canned and 195 tons of frozen meat marketed. With available 
equipment, an output of 50,000 cases of canned meat and 1,000 tons 
of frozen meat is expected during the coming season. 
The following description of the methods employed in the canning 
of whale meat is taken from the January, 1919, Yearbook of the 
Pacific Fisherman: 
The equipment and method of canning are quite similar to those used in Pacific 
coast salmon canneries, with obvious differences in the preliminary handling. The 
whales for canning are hauled out on a special concrete slip, constantly flooded with 
fresh running water, and here the meat is removed in the same way as for freezing. 
After being cooled it is placed in a mild brine for about 36 hours, which removes all 
blood, at the same time practically eliminating the gamy taste. The strips of meat 
are then passed through a salmon cutter of familiar type, which cuts them into pieces 
the right size for 1-pound flat cans. The cans are then put through the exhaust box 
for 30 minutes, sealed and cooked in the retort for an hour and twenty minutes, after 
which they are ready for labeling and shipping. 
The lack of understanding of the best ways to prepare fish for the 
table, of the relative merits of the different varieties of fish and 
fishery products, and their value as food, is to a considerable extent 
responsible for the lack of demand for fish. Such obstacles can best 
be met by education and practical demonstration. To do this, rep- 
resentatives of the Bureau were detailed to give lectures and demon- 
strations in fish cookery, beginning in May and continuing throughout 
the year. More than 70 demonstrations were given, the following 
places being visited: Seattle, Everett, Bellingham, Spokane, Yakima, 
and Aberdeen, Wash.; Portland and Gladstone Park, Oreg.; and San 
Francisco, Oakland, Berkeley, Alameda, Stockton, and Sacramento, 
Calif. These demonstrations were very popular with the housewives, 
the average attendance being about 100 persons. 
The following fish and fishery products were used for demonstra- 
tion purposes: Albacore, barracuda, bocaccio, bonito, carp, catfish, 
flounders, hake, halibut, kinegfish, lingcod, chub mackerel, horse mack- 
erel, grayish, pects rockfishes, sablefish, sand dab, sardine, shad, 
skates, skipjack, smelt, soupfin shark, sole, sturgeon, yellowtail, and 
heads, milts, and livers of salmon; also squid, octopus, and whale. 
Among the forms especially popular were shark, squid, skate, yellow- 
tail, sablefish, flounders, sole, kin tial mackerel, and salmon milts. 
Buying of fish in the round, the viscera alone being removed, was 
advocated. This is cheaper and much waste is eliminated, as the 
head, trimmings, and bones, which are richest in flavor and are usu- 
ally discarded by the dealer, are thus saved. These parts are used 
to make delicious soups and gravies, or, if in smaller quantity, as the 
foundation for a cream sauce. In thus utilizing pantieats every 
part of the fish for food, one day’s supply will matte serve for two. 
In place of frying, the hot-oven method of cooking was recom- 
mended. By this means practically all the unpleasant odors of cook- 
ing fish are eliminated, economy in the use of fats is effected, and 
time is saved in both cooking and serving. Creamed dishes, souftles, 
and imitation chops are made from left-over fish. Salads also are 
made from these, as well as from freshly steamed fish. 
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