74 THE FISHING INDUSTRY 



consists of iced cockles, broken with a hammer. The 

 positions on the deck are followed by the crew in rota- 

 tion, to give all an equal chance. As the fish are 

 " landed " they are thrown on to the deck, each man 

 keeping his count by cutting out the tongues and keeping 

 them in a separate bucket. 



On the Georges Bank, south-east of Gloucester, 

 which is one of the favourite fishing grounds, the fish 

 are caught by hand-line from the deck of the ship while 

 at anchor. Frozen herring are used as bait, when 

 possible. All the fish caught on the Georges Bank are 

 salted, except the halibut, which is iced. Some idea of 

 the value of these grounds is gained from the fact that a 

 single fisherman may take 500 fish in a day. The 

 Georges Bank area yields about 70 per cent of the total 

 catch, the Grand and Western Banks accounting for 

 the remaining 30 per cent. Approximately 60 per cent 

 of the fish are brought in iced, and 40 per cent 

 salted. 



On returning to port the fish are pitchforked on to 

 the wharf, and sorted into snappers (less than 16 ins. 

 from nape to tail), medium, and large (over 22 ins.) 

 Generally, they are divided as foDows : 4 per cent 

 snappers, 41 per cent medium, and 55 per cent large. 

 Each class is weighed separately and carefully examined 

 for any indication of spoilage. Any suspected fish are 

 thrown out. The fish are then washed and put with 

 salt into butts in the store. Fish that are brought in 

 iced whole are sorted and weighed, and then beheaded, 

 gutted, and split and salted. About eight bushels of salt 

 are used to each hogshead of fish. The fish are kept, 

 salted down in hogsheads until required, care being 

 taken that the fish are kept covered with strong 

 brine. 



After salting, the fish are dried. The salting process 



