62 SALMON FISHERIES OF PACIFIC COAST. 



The greater part of the product put up on this coast goes to Eu- 

 rope, Germany being the principal consumer, but considerable quan- 

 tities are sold in Norway, Sweden, and other countries, while the 

 smokers of the cities east of the Rocky Mountains use large ship- 

 ments every year. 



PICKLING. 



The earliest method of preserving salmon on the coast was by 

 pickling. At times this. industry attained to large proportions, but 

 during the last 10 years it has been declining, largely because of the 

 increasing popularity of mild-cured salmon. All species of salmon 

 are pickled, but the most popular is the red salmon. 



In dressing salmon for pickling the heads are removed, the fish 

 split along the belly, the cut ending with a downward curve on the 

 tail. The viscera and two-thirds of the backbone are removed, and 

 the blood, gurry, and black stomach membrane scraped away. The 

 fish are then thoroughly scrubbed and washed in cold water. They 

 are next placed in pickling butts with about 15 pounds of salt to 

 every 100 pounds of fish. The fish remain here about one week, when 

 they are removed, rubbed clean with a scrub brush, and repacked in 

 market barrels, one sack of salt being used to every three barrels of 

 200 pounds each. About 40 to 52 red salmon, 25 to 35 coho salmon, 

 70 to 80 humpback salmon, 10 to 14 king salmon, and 25 to 30 dog 

 salmon are required in packing a barrel of pickled salmon. 



A few salteries also pack " bellies." This product is merely the 

 belly of the fish, which is the fattest portion, and as most of the 

 packers threw away the rest of the fish, thus causing a very large 

 waste of choice food, this method has come under the ban of the law 

 in some of the coast States and in Alaska. As a result but few 

 " bellies " are packed now, and most of these only when some economic 

 use is made of the remainder. Humpback salmon furnish the major 

 part of the " belly " pack. 



DRY SALTING. 



During the progress of the Russian-Japanese War the preparation 

 of dry-salted dog salmon became an important industry, but as soon 

 as the Japanese fishermen resumed their former occupations the de- 

 mand fell off so much that the industry was virtually abandoned in 

 the United States, although a number of Japanese continue it in 

 British Columbia. The fish, after being dressed, were packed in 

 boxes, in salt, these boxes holding about 560 pounds of fish, and were 

 shipped in this condition to Japan. 



At a number of places in Alaska the bellies of red and coho salmon 

 are cut out and salted, after which the backs are dried in the sun and, 



