188 REPORT OF COMMISSIONER OF FISH AND FISHERIES. [98] 



special reference to the fishery in the Gulf of Saint Lawrence, since it 



was here that the jig fishing was most extensively prosecuted; the 



methods are the same, however, as those i^racticed on the New England 



coast. 



26. — Caee of the fish, 



{a.) Cleaning and salting. — The manner of caring for the fish is essen- 

 tially the same as that described in the preceding chapter, except that 

 (the quantity of fish taken being much smaller, there was, of course, 

 much more time for handling them) greater care was taken, and the 

 fish were uniformly of better quality. Many of the Gloucester mack- 

 erel-hookers were accustomed to divide their crew into dressing gangs 

 of two each instead of three, as at the present time on the seining ves- 

 sels, one of these men splitting and the other gibbing. It was the duty 

 of the splitter to get the barrels, fill them with water, and, when he 

 had split more fish than the gibber could take care of, to aid the latter 

 in his work.* 



On the seining vessel, as we have seen, the mackerel are, in most 

 cases, heaped on the deck; on the mackerel-hookers, the fish were 

 already in barrels, and the order of proceeding was slightly different. 

 The splitting-board Avas placed on the head of one of the "strike" bar- 

 rels ; the fish were taken out of the barrels, split, and thrown into the 

 gibtub, where they were handled in the ordinary manner. The pro- 

 cess of gibbing having been completed, the fish were "plowed" and 

 put into the second barrel, which was filled with clean water. From 

 this barrel they were changed into the barrel in which they were salted. 

 The process of salting is as follows: A barrel of mackerel is emptied 

 out on deck; a "gib-keeler" is filled with salt; one of the men now 

 throws the mackerel into the "gib-keeler," while the other man "rubs" 

 them in the salt by taking one in each hand; the back of one is then 

 placed to the flesh of the other, and they are thrown into the barrel 

 with the flesh side down. They are thus salted and packed away into 

 barrels in successive layers, each (with the exception of the bottom 

 tier) with the flesh side down.t A barrel of large mackerel can be 

 salted in from five to ten minutes. 



In order to cure mackerel successfully very fine salt must be used, 

 and every part of the fish must be touched or it will spoil. | Careless 



* The most general custom, perhaps, on the Gloucester vessels was to have two men 

 in a gang, though this was varied a good deal on different schooners. Some crews 

 preferred dress gangs of three men each, while others sometimes had four men work- 

 ing together, one of them "passing up" the mackerel to the splitter. 



t The early method of i^acking them flesh up has been abandoned. 



tThis is the case when the mackerel are "rubbed," Liverpool salt being almost 

 wholly used, since Cadiz salt, owing to its coarseness, has a tendency to tear or 

 " ruck up " the flesh of the fish and give them a ragged appearance. Many of the 

 Cape Cod fishermen, however, preferred to use Cadiz salt, believing it to bo better for 

 curing the fish than Liverpool. Their manner of applying it was quite different from 

 that which has been described. Each man salted his own catch. Placing a wash- 



