MAINE SARDINE INDUSTRY. 93 



product from the ammoniacal substances alone. Furthermore, proc- 

 essing produces a quantity of ammonia and amines greatly in excess 

 of that found normally and sufficient to mask the quantities of these 

 substances formed during the actual spoilage of the fish in the raw 



state. 



GRADING THE FISH. 



As already stated, the fish received at the cannery vary in quality 

 according to the season of the year and to the treatment to which 

 they have been subjected during transportation. Obviously best 

 results can not be obtained unless some differentiation is made in 

 the treatment of these fish during the packing process. This investi- 

 gation showed that all the fish, fat or lean, excessively salted or 

 pickled or the reverse, were sent through the cannery together. In a 

 majority of the canneries the fish were not sorted according to size. 

 At one plant the best lot of oil-size fish received during the season 

 were mixed with very inferior fish that had been in pickle over night 

 and were soft and, in many cases, belly broken. These dull, leached- 

 out fish should have been discarded at once, instead of which they 

 were packed in cans with the good fish, to the detriment of the entire 

 output from that particular cannery. It is a great economic waste 

 for the sardine canner to adopt a routine method for treating every 

 lot of fish brought in. Best results can be obtained only when the 

 fish are separated at the cannery into different grades with respect 

 to quality. Greater care should be used in handling fish of poorer 

 quality, thus insuring better results in the finished product. The 

 various grades should be kept together throughout the process. 



FEEDY FISH. 



Packing badly belly-blown fish has done more than any other one 

 factor to bring the Maine sardine into disrepute. Excessively feedy 

 fish should not be taken from the water (p. 18), and fish which reach 

 the cannery in a badly belly-blown condition should be discarded 

 (PL XIX). The packing of fish containing feed should not be per- 

 mitted under the present methods of snipping and shearing. Small 

 pieces from the gills and particles of partially digested food from the 

 stomachs produce a messy appearance on the surface of the packed 

 fish. 



A reasonable limit for the amount of feed fish may contain before 

 being rendered unfit for packing should be established. In determin- 

 ing such a standard, the method and time of transportation, the ex- 

 tent of the rupture of the belly portion of the fish, the grade of sar- 

 dines into which they are to be packed, whether they are to be cut 

 or cut and eviscerated before canning, and other factors should be 

 taken into consideration. 



