PREPARATION OF THE COD AND OTHER SALT FISH 

 FOR THE MARKET. 



INTRODUCTION. 



Fishing is one of the oldest industries in the United States, and 

 Gloucester, Mass., the point at which this work began, continues to be 

 the center of operations, particularly in the preparation of salt fish. 

 The city was founded in 1623, one of the main objects being to con- 

 duct fishing operations, and at no time has this been secondary to any 

 other. The cod is preeminently the fish sought, and it brought succor 

 so often to the colony in early times that it was designated the 

 " Sacred Cod." The other fish which are caught and handled like 

 the cod in dressing and curing commercially are haddock, cusk, hake, 

 and pollock. 



The extent of the fishing industry is hard to appreciate from sta- 

 tistics alone. According to figures furnished by the Bureau of 

 Fisheries in 1905, there was a total of 37,339 persons engaged in fish- 

 ing or fish preparation in New England. The total catch amounted 

 to 480,283,604 pounds, having a value of $14,184,205. Of this total 

 the cod, cusk, haddock, hake, and pollock amounted to 225,182,272 

 pounds, valued at $4,086,342. 



For a long time the general handling of cured fish in the trade was 

 confined to the cooler months of the year and almost no business was 

 done in the summer. During the civil war the price of meats became 

 so high that the fish business was conducted on a limited scale in the 

 near-by cities throughout the year. Long-distance shipments, how- 

 ever, were not undertaken. After the war was over, trade in fish 

 was carried on late in the spring and begun early in the fall, but 

 operations were almost wholly suspended during the midsummer 

 months. 



Formerly mackerel fishing occupied the time of the fisherman dur- 

 ing the warm months and thus prevented summer from being an idle 

 season, but in recent years the mackerel catch has been very small, and 

 this probably accounts in some degree for the desire to foster a summer 

 business in dried salt fish. With the advent of boracic acid preserva- 

 tives in 1881, the industry gradually became a continuous business and 

 summer shipments were made to long distances. At the present time 



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