SANITARY CONDITIONS. 35 



the hold, the vessel is filled one compartment at a time, and the 

 liquor abstracted by the salt or the water from the melted ice is 

 pumped off promptly, so that this part of the operation is generally 

 satisfactory. The difficulties which may arise on the fishing vessel 

 are due to insufficient protection of the fish on hot days, not bleeding 

 them promptly, and haste in dressing, thereby not getting rid of all 

 traces of viscera and blood spots. Sometimes the fish are slightly 

 slack salted in order to have them weigh heavy, and if the trip should 

 take more time than anticipated or the weather should be warm, 

 some spoilage may occur. 



Insufficient icing is also attended with disastrous effects. In order 

 to overcome troubles from this source, the owners of the factories 

 promulgated rules for the captains and skippers of vessels relative 

 to " shack fish '' the past season and enforced them by dockage and 

 refusal to accept injured cargoes. The notice was as follows: 



At a recent meeting of the buyers and shippers of fish it was decided that if 

 Gloucester is to hold her position as the largest fishing port the quality of our 

 goods must not only be maintained, but improved, and with this end in view 

 it was suggested that we ask the cooperation of captains and crews of the 

 fishing fleet. 



You are well aware that during the summer months fish require extra atten- 

 tion and unless they get proper care on the vessels they will not comply with 

 the regulations. We beg, therefore, to call your attention to the following sug- 

 gestions for the proper care of fish, viz : 



All fish that are salted on the vessels should be dressed while new or before 

 they become suncooked, which in summer is sometimes the case, and plenty 

 of clean water used to remove all blood stains, and then plenty of salt to insure 

 that whiteness that is so necessary, and to prevent all taint which so often 

 occurs from light-salted fish. On fresh fish, only the second baiting on long 

 trips should be iced, and even then the utmost care must be used to have the 

 fish gilled and properly cleaned before icing, as no others will find a market in 

 Gloucester in future. 



The shippers who know what the trade requires are agreed that large shack 

 trips landed during the summer months are getting to be a great injury to the 

 business, and unless these fish are landed in first-class condition they will be 

 rejected by the buyer, and in no case will fresh fish be bought where a vessel 

 has made two baitings, unless all fish caught on the first baiting are salted. 



The requirements of the Pure Food Law are such that poor or inferior fish 

 can not be marketed at any price, and the coming year will see this law more 

 strictly enforced than ever before. 



It becomes necessary, then, for our own protection, as well as for the best in- 

 terests of the business, to strictly enforce the above rules, and we trust you will 

 take due care and govern yourself accordingly. 



The good effects of the order were said to be clearly noticeable in 

 improved quality throughout the season. A further improvement 

 may be expected when payment is scaled on quality rather than on 

 the basis of a uniform rate. 



The salt fish arc handled from the hold to the deck of the vessel 

 and from the deck to the wharf, then to the scales, and finally to the 

 wasli water by means of pews. This results in puncturing the fish 



