REPORT OF COMMISSIONER OF FISH AND FISHERIES. [138] 



mackerel are immediately split, salted in barrels, with sufficient pickle* to 

 insure their preservation at least until the vessel shall arrive home, and 

 the barrels are stowed in the hold. When a fare is secured the vessel 

 returns to port to " pack out." The barrels of fish are at once landed 

 on the wharf, when they are culled into grades as defined by law, and, 

 after being properly weighed, are put up in various sized packages and 

 distributed over the country. In most of the New England States there 

 are laws that require each package to be branded by an authorized inspec- 

 tor, who must thus certify that it contains the designated kind, grade, and 

 weight of fish, and that they are properly preserved. The same fish are 

 sometimes repacked in the Western and Southern States and resold 

 under brands different from those required by the laws of New England. 



The manner of handliug mackerel, though differing in some of the 

 minor details, is essentially the same for all of the New England ports. 

 The method described in this chapter is that pursued at Gloucester 

 where great quantities of mackerel are annually packed. 



The barrels of fish are hoisted by horse-power from the vessel's hold 

 to the wharf, and are set on end until all are ready for packing. They 

 are next unheaded and the mackerel emptied, one or more barrels 

 at a time, into the culling-crib,* around which stand three or more 

 "cullers," who separate the fish into several grades, throwing them into 

 weighing-tubs holding about 100 pounds each. After being weighed 

 the fish are thrown into the packing-crib, and are ready to be put into 

 barrels or smaller packages. The first two tiers in the bottom of a bar- 

 rel are placed flesh up, and the successive layers back up. Over each 

 layer is sprinkled a few haudfuls of salt, using about a half bushel, or 31 

 pounds, to each barrel. The law requires that a barrel shall contain 

 200 pounds of mackerel exclusive of the weight of the pickle, and that 

 half, quarter, and eighth barrels shall contain proportionate quantities. 

 Smaller packages of any size may be put up, provided the weight is 

 properly branded thereon. The cooper now beads up the barrel and 

 rolls it along the wharf in the proper row for each grade. It is next 

 taken by the pickler, who bores a hole 'in the side and pours in some 

 brine. For this purpose he places in the hole the pickle-tub, which is an 

 ordinary water- bucket, with a copper nozzle in the bottom, thus making 

 a very good funnel. The pickle is usually the same as taken from the 

 barrel of mackerel as it comes from the vessel, being poured from the 

 barrel into a pickle tub or butt and then dipped by the pickler. It may 

 be strengthened by the addition of fresh salt, and is considered of the 

 proper strength when it will float a mackerel of ordinary fatness. The 

 barrel having been filled with pickle, the hole is plugged up, and it is 

 then turned on end ready for branding. It is often allowed to remain 

 for several days on its side or on end, in order to allow the fish to settle, 

 and is then refilled with pickle. A lack of sufficient pickle is determined 



*A culling-crib may be of any size, but is usually a woodeu box 5 feet long, :i feet 

 wide, and 8 inches deep, with slat bottom, and is set on leys 2^ or '.\ feet high. 



