8 BULLETIN 908, U. S, DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 



weir fish also contain "feed," at times in great quantities. Such 

 fish, however, free themselves of excessive feed if left long enough 

 in the weir. 



TRANSPORTATION. 



Most of the boats which carry the fish from the fishing grounds 

 to the canneries are now well equipped and admirably suited to the 

 purpose (PI. III). The sailing vessels formerly used have been 

 superseded bj boats equipped not only with sails but also with gasoline 

 engines as auxiliary power, and have a carrying capacity of from 10 

 to 100 hogsheads * of fish. Each boat is provided, below decks, with 

 a large tank or hold, which in the newer boats is watertight, to prevent 

 the entrance of bilge water. The fish are carried in these tanks. 

 The fishing fleet comprises privately owned boats, as well as those 

 belonging to the various canneries. The fish are bought at the weirs 

 by the captains of the boats, who act as agents for the canneries 

 employing them. In addition to the cost of the fish, the canner pays 

 the boatman for transportation at a stipulated rate, usually (1914) 

 from $1.50 to $2.50 per hogshead, according to the distance the fish 

 are carried. 



PICKLING AND SALTING. 



In early years the fish were taken in the fresh state to the canneries 

 (PI. IV) , where they were held in tanks of strong brine for about two 

 hours, or until they "struck," a term applied by the experienced 

 fishman in the pickling sheds to indicate the condition of the skin 

 and the appearance of the fish when properly salted. At present, 

 in order to save time during transportation, salt is sprinkled liberally 

 throughout the mass of the fish as they are placed in the hold of the 

 boat, the amount varying from 1 to 2i sacks, of about 190 pounds 

 each, to the hogshead, according to the length of time it takes to 

 reach the cannery and the qualitv of the fish, as judged by the boat- 

 man. Or a strong brine, made by adding the proper proportion of 

 sea water to the fish, and salt may be used. The addition of dry 

 salt draws out from the fish enough water to form a pickle, which 

 sometimes is pumped off and at other times allowed to remain. As a 

 rule, when the sea is rough no water is added, and the pickle formed 

 by the addition of salt is pumped off during the voyage, so that the 

 fish may be carried in practically a solid bulk, thus preventing 

 damage to them from the rolling of the vessel. 



At the cannery the fish are hoisted from the boat (PL III, fig. 2) 

 into long chutes down which they are conveyed by a stream of run- 

 ning water into tanks in the pickling room. If the fish have been 

 long enough in salt during the trip to the cannery, they are simply 



iln practice, on the "Eastern Coast," as the shore from Jonesport eastward is termed, a hogshead is rated 

 as holding 10 tubs of fish, the weight of which is 1 ,000 pounds. The average weight of a number of tubs 

 of fish, when taken at the weirs, has been found to be 129 pounds, thus making the weight of a hogshead 

 1,290 pounds. On the coast west of Jonesport, known locally as the "Western Coast," the fish are sold 

 by the bushel, 15 bushels being considered as the equivalent of a hogshead. 



