18 FISHERY INDUSTRIES OF THE UNITED STATES. 
The instructions given resulted in the successful salting of 80,000 
fish, and purchasers of the fish expressed a high appreciation of the 
quality of the product. Plans were developed for establishing local 
markets for the fish and for conducting the work on a large com- 
mercial scale. 
A paper® by the Bureau’s technologist, H. F. Taylor, has been pub- 
lished by the Bureau for the use of fish salters, and it points out the 
practical application of the principles developed by work in this field. 
These include the careful handling of fish Herons salting; thorough 
cleaning, especially the removal of all blood; the use of salt of a high 
degree of purity; and the application of salt in the dry condition. 
REFRIGERATION OF FISH. 
To supply authoritative technical data bearmg on the refrigera- 
tion of fish, the relative merits of freezing fish in air and in brine 
and the lke, the Bureau has assembled necessary equipment in- 
cluding electrical measuring apparatus. Lack of funds and the loss 
of technological workers have prevented the prosecution of this 
investigation. The demand for the Bureau’s data on refrigeration, 
came d freezing in brine by the various processes, has been 
eavy and it is believed has been highly appreciated by the trade. 
Practical application of the principles in the precooling and freezing 
of fish have been made and give promise of effecting important 
advances in the distribution of fish of excellent quality. The possi- 
bilities of precooling the catch as taken by the fishin vessels merit 
serious consideration. A number of demonstrations of brine freezing 
have been made by the Bureau during the year. As a result of 
demonstrations given for the benefit of representatives of the Bureau 
of Plant Industry, that bureau has made provision for the applica- 
tion of this method to the freezing of fruits and vegetables and is 
conducting investigations in its particular field. 
CANNING OF PACIFIC COAST FISHES. 
When the Bureau equipped its small experimental canning labora- 
tory in southern California, one of the more pressing lines of investiga- 
tion was the development of satisfactory methods of canning little 
utilized fishes to render available larger quantities of protein food and 
conserve meat. As a result much attention was given to the possi- 
bilities of developing suitable methods for canning such fishes as 
mackerel, bonito, barracuda, sea bass, and smelts and to improving 
the packs of pilchard, tuna, and yellowtail. Several hundred packs 
were put up and held in storage for examination periodically, and in a 
few cases methods which appeared unusually promising and for which 
there was an immediate demand have been released. The results of 
this work are being prepared for publication. With the lessening of 
the demand for greatly increasing production and in view of the under- 
consumption of fish and difficulties of marketing not only new fishes, 
but staple varieties, in recent months the laboratory has concerned 
intself with the more important work of developing standard methods 
3 Taylor, Harden F.: Improvements in Process of Salting River Herring, Especially: Adapted to Warm 
Climates. peepee II, Report, U. S. Commissioner of Fisheries for 1921, 7 p., B. F. Doc. 903. Wash- 
ington, 1921. 
