430 EVENING DISCOURSES 
fishing, he pointed out that much can be done, and in certain directions is 
now being done, to improve matters. The effort is well worth while. 
Stowage in crushed ice under ordinary commercial conditions keeps fish 
fresh for not more than six or seven days, but if reasonable steps are taken 
to reduce the bacterial contamination, this period can be extended to ten 
or twelve days: in other words, the edible life can be practically doubled. 
It is concluded that twelve days may be taken as the limit to the ‘ life’ of 
clean, chilled fish. 
Freezing. —Now, in a comparatively small country like ours, the interval 
between the landing of fish and its consumption is not usually very great, 
and the question arises, For what proportion of the trawling industry will 
a twelve days’ limit suffice? It will certainly suffice for the fish which is 
landed from trawlers making trips not exceeding fourteen days, and these 
account for about two-thirds of the total landings of white fish. 
But about one-third of the fish landed is from trawlers making trips of 
over fourteen days’ duration. A typical voyage is to the fishing grounds 
off Iceland, taking say twenty-four days, of which fourteen will be occupied 
in steaming to and from the fishing grounds. In such a case the earliest 
caught fish landed by such vessels will be some seventeen days old on 
landing, and the latest caught fish will be some seven days old. It is clear, 
therefore, that the mere chilling of clean fish is not sufficient for these 
long-distance trawlers. More effective methods than stowage in crushed 
ice are necessary. 
As with meat, freezing offers a possible solution. Early experiments 
showed, however, that the ordinary freezing of fish in cold air did not yield 
a satisfactory product. The appearance of the fish was bad, and there was 
a considerable amount of ‘ drip’; moreover, the fish was dry, and when 
cooked it was woolly and tasteless. It was clear that the rate of freezing, 
which we saw was so important in the case of meat, was too slow. Attention 
was therefore turned to more rapid freezing in cold brine. At first even 
the results of this brine-freezing were disappointing, but research was able 
to track down the cause, and eventually a product, practically indistinguish- 
able from freshly caught fish, was obtained by freezing in brine at a tempera- 
ture not higherthan—20° C. Itisnotuntilthis low temperature is reached— 
a temperature, incidentally, at which the growth of bacteria is completely 
arrested—that a sufficiently rapid rate of freezing results. ‘To preserve the 
high quality, the minute ice crystals formed must not be allowed to grow too 
large and disintegrate the fish, and this necessitates storing the frozen 
product at the same low temperature. If that be done, fish can be stored 
for three months, and on thawing it has been found as good to look atand to eat 
as if it had just come out of the sea. After three months some change has 
been found in the laboratory, but the rate of change is so slow that it has 
no commercial significance for at least another three months, and it is now 
certain that fish can be stored in first-rate condition for at least six months. 
In practice, the catch should be frozen at sea as soon as possible after it 
comes over the side. I fully realise that the cost of installing the necessary 
plant and operating it is substantial, but I do seriously suggest that this 
extra cost would be more than met by the saving in depreciation of fish at 
present stowed in ice for periods over which we know full well that ice is 
powerless to prevent the fish from becoming stale. For the present, it is 
not essential that the long-distance trawler should carry a larger plant than 
is required to deal with one-third of its catch. 
It is exceedingly satisfactory to me, in drawing these remarks on fish to 
a conclusion, to refer to the boldest and most remarkable developments 
the sea-fishing industry has ever witnessed. I refer to the enterprise which 
