56 PACIFIC COD FISHERIES. 
While the machine will work upon the codfish banks profitably, 
either with gill nets or line trawl, it is probable that the principal 
use of the machine in the near future will be in the salmon and hali- 
but fisheries of Alaska. With one of these machines placed upon the 
deck of a cannery tender a crew of not more than five or six men 
could set out and haul in from 5 to 10 miles of gill netting in a work- 
ing day, and do this in weather too rough for a Columbia River boat 
to live in. The gill nets at present in use could be changed at very 
little expense so as to work in the machine, and the work could be 
carried on much more cheaply than is the case under present condi- 
tions. With the use of a large power vessel gill netting could be 
carried on in the open bay or sea if the owner so desired. 
In the halibut fisheries the use of the lifter would permit of all the 
trawl fishing being done from the deck of the vessel, thus doing 
away with the dories, and with it fishing could be carried on except 
during the more violent storms. 
DRESSING THE FISH. 
As soon as enough fish have accumulated on the deck the dress 
gang begins its work. The “throater” seizes the fish by the head 
in the left hand, places the back on the edge of a table or tub, and 
by means of a short knife with pointed end makes a cut each side 
of the throat just behind the gills (the front of the throat has previ- 
ously been cut by the fisherman in order to bleed the fish) and an- 
other slit is made from the belly to the vent. The “header” then 
receives the fish, and, grasping the head and body, backward pres- 
sure is made across the edge of the table or tub, resulting in breaking 
off the head at the first vertebra. He then opens the belly with 
the left hand and tears out the viscera. It is then passed on to the 
“ splitter,” the most important member of the gang, who places the 
back of the fish against a cleat on a board and by means of a short, 
heavy knife, rounded at the end, and with the blade slightly curved 
flatwise, continues the split down the belly to near the end of the 
tail, care being taken to keep near the backbone. At about three- 
fifths of the distance from the neck to the tail the backbone is cut 
across, and is loosened so that he can catch the end in his fingers. 
Grasping this with his left hand he cuts under it toward the head 
of the fish and separates the upper part of the backbone from the 
fish. In this operation the knife blade is kept close to the back- 
bone to prevent loss of flesh, and a good splitter will drive the knife 
no deeper than is absolutely necessary, as otherwise the thick flesh 
at the back would be almost cut in two, thus spoiling the fish for 
middles. The sounds are not saved, and it is but rarely that the 
livers are saved on the vessels. 
