94 BULLETIN 908, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTUKE. 



SMALL FISH (BRITT). 



The facilities for handling the fish and the processes employed at the 

 present time are not at all suited for "britt," as fish from \\ to 2\ 

 inches are called. With the methods now in vogue a good article can 

 not be prepared from britt. In the first place, they are taken in 

 entirely too large quantities, 50 or 60 hogsheads of fish about 2 J 

 inches long being actually landed at a cannery in one load. In most 

 of the canneries they are treated in exactly the same manner as the 

 larger fish. The waste is enormous, and the taking of these fish, 

 which would, in from two to three months, be of sufficient size to 

 make easy handling and packing, constitutes a great economic loss. 

 When the catch is composed of large and small fish, even if completely 

 separated at the cannery by running them through a separator, the 

 loss is too great to make a sacrifice of these small fish in the quanti- 

 ties sometimes taken. If the larger fish are not separated from the 

 britt, as is the case in the majority of the canneries, the small fish are 

 not discarded until they reach the packing tables. Since, as a general 

 thing, they can not be flaked properly, they fill up the spaces be- 

 tween the larger fish, delay drying, and increase the damage and mar- 

 ring of the larger fish when they are separated during packing. 



Small fish from 1 \ to 2 \ inches long should not be taken from the 

 water. Legislation should be enacted prohibiting the taking of fish of 

 this size. In the case of a mixed run, regulations should be pre- 

 scribed as to the percentage of these small fish which may be taken in 

 a catch. No attempt should be made to pack fish that are less than 3 

 inches long, and this size should be accepted only when the packers 

 are willing to take them in small quantities and devote sufficient 

 time and attention to their preparation to insure a first-class article. 



MARRED OR BROKEN FAT FISH. 



The methods developed in packing Maine sardines, for example, the 

 steaming and drying process, and others that are utilized in transpor- 

 tation and packing the fish, at the speed and in the quantities handled, 

 are not suited to the physical structure of the more delicate and 

 tender fat fish, which will not stand rough treatment without being 

 marred and broken. Their use is not conducive to speed in packing, 

 with resulting quantity, which is desired in the preparation of the 

 cheaper grade of sardines. For these reasons preference has been 

 given to the thinner and firmer fish for use in this class of goods. These 

 fish, deficient in fat, are taken during the early part of the season, par- 

 ticularly during the spring catch or during a scarcity of feed. While it 

 is generally conceded that sardines made from fat fish are superior in 

 flavor to those made from the thinner fish, they are not in general favor 

 among the packers because of the difficulties in handling them. The 

 tissues of the fat fish are exceedingly tender, so that they are easily 



