12 COD AND OTHER SALT FISH FOR THE MARKET. 



from the deck while the vessel is at anchor, the position and rotation 

 of men are the same as in rip fishing and the count is kept by the 

 number of tongues. The crew consists of fourteen to sixteen men 

 besides the captain and the cook. The bait used is frozen herring or, 

 if that can not be obtained, the boats may go to Edgartown and get 

 pogies, kiaks, bluebacks, squids, and sometimes alewives. These are 

 kept iced, as any spoilage of bait will result in no catch. The fish 

 caught on the Georges Bank are salted, except the halibut, which is 

 iced. The Georges fish are considered the best, the rip fish second, 

 the dory hand-line catch third, and the trawl-caught fish fourth. 



The Georges Banks and adjacent fishing grounds off the New Eng- 

 land coast furnish about 70 per cent of the catch and that of the 

 Grand and Western banks about 30 per cent. Approximately 61 per 

 cent of the fish are brought in iced and 39 per cent salted. The per- 

 centage of different kinds of fish vary with the years; in 1909 the 

 codfish amounted to 62 per cent, haddock 14 per cent, cusk 4.5 per 

 cent, hake 5.5 per cent, and pollock 14 per cent. 



The boats which bring in only salt fish are designated as " salters," 

 and those that bring in salted and iced fish or iced fish only, as " shack 

 fishers." The term "shack" is often applied to all fish other than 

 cod, as cusk, hake, haddock, and pollock. It is also applied to fish 

 which have become tainted, and therefore one must understand in 

 what connection the term is used in order to get the correct idea. 



CLASSIFYING AND HANDLING THE FISH ON SHORE. 



The fish are received from the vessel either salted or iced. If the 

 fish have been salted, they are passed up from the hold by pews to 

 the deck and in like manner to the wharf. The cod are separated 

 into three classes, snappers, medium, and large, according to their 

 size. All codfish less than 16 inches from the curve of the nape to 

 the hollow of the tail are designated as snappers ; those more than 16 

 but under 22 inches are called medium, and those above 22 inches are 

 rated as large. The codfish generally run snappers 4 per cent, 

 medium 41 per cent, and large 55 per cent. The cusk and hake are 

 generally divided into two sizes, the snappers under 19 inches and the 

 large above that. Each class is weighed and kept separate, being 

 examined for any evidence of spoilage as they are pitched out. If 

 they have not been fully salted or there has been carelessness in apply- 

 ing salt to all points at the ends of kenches or along the partition 

 walls, or if there has been any leakage through the deck, there will 

 be a peculiar sour odor, not very different from that of sauerkraut. 

 Those accustomed to handling the fish become expert in recognizing 

 this trouble and pick out the infected fish instantly. In cases of 

 doubt, two or three of the crew may act as inspectors in detecting the 



