COD FISHING. 9 



of fish unless the sea is rough and other trips can not be made, then 

 the anchor and buoy are attached as at the beginning of the line. 



The fish are passed from the dories to the vessel with pitchforks 

 called pews and are kept in lots on deck by means of division boards 

 so that they will not slide or be bruised by the movements of the ves- 

 sel. When the fish are all on board, the crew is divided into splitting 

 gangs, each consisting of three men. The first man removes the head 

 and splits open the belly, the second removes the viscera, and the 

 third splits the fish and removes a part of the backbone. These men 

 are known as throaters, gutters, and splitters. The first man seizes 

 the fish by the head in the left hand, places the back on the edge of a 

 tub or pen, and by means of a sharp-pointed knife makes a cut across 

 the throat just behind the gills and another slit is made down the 

 belly. Then, grasping the head and body, backward pressure is 

 made across the edge of the tub or pen, resulting in breaking off the 

 head at the first vertebra. The fish is then passed on to the gutter, 

 who opens the belly with the left hand, removes the liver for oil, and 

 tears out the viscera. It is then passed to the splitter, who places 

 the back of the fish against a cleat on a board and by means of a 

 heavy knife 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, a slit is made up the right side, and the forward portion of 

 the backbone is removed. In this operation the knife blade is kept 

 close to the backbone to prevent loss of flesh and to keep the middles 

 thick. The loss in weight by removal of head, viscera, etc., is about 

 40 per cent. 



The fish are then well washed and blood spots removed. They 

 are slipped down a canvas chute into the hold, where two men care- 

 fully salt and kench or pile them. The fish are laid on their backs 

 with napes and tails alternating, with the exception of the top layer, 

 which is turned back up; a liberal sprinkling of salt is placed over 

 all, an especially heavy portion being put on where the fish come in 

 contact with partitions or the sides of the vessel. In the Banks 

 fisheries, it requires on an average nearly 1^ bushels of salt for 

 100 pounds of fish. A great deal depends upon the thoroughness 

 with which the work is done, as it is important that every part of the 

 fish shall receive a share. If the salting is well done, it is not often 

 that the fish need to be rekenched; but if the salt is used too spar- 

 ingly or is unevenly applied, souring may start and necessitate moving 

 whole kenches and resalting. Sometimes the effort is made to salt 

 a little slack in order to make them weigh Heavy on reaching port, 

 with the result that the whole lot may be lost. As the fish lose their 

 water from salting, it runs to the bottom of the hold and is pumped 

 out. 



