MAINE SARDINE INDUSTRY. 121 



SUMMARY. 



The packers of Maine sardines occupy a very important position 

 in the food industry in their ability to supply a food product which is 

 comparatively cheap and at the same time has a high nutritive value. 

 Careless methods on the part of some packers, due to a desire for 

 quantity production at a sacrifice of quality and to a lack of control 

 over the employees of the plants, have resulted in the appearance on 

 the market of some very low-grade sardines, tending to bring the 

 whole sardine industry into disrepute. 



In an effort to assist the packer in improving the character of his 

 output the Bureau of Chemistry conducted an extensive investigation 

 of the packing processes, as a result of which it has been able to make 

 various recommendations to the canners. 



The salient points brought out in the course of the experimental 

 work are as follows : 



Composition of the fish. — The composition of the sea herring varies 

 during the season, the fat content increasing from July to October. 

 This variation is greater in the case of the smaller than of the larger 

 fish. 



Food of the sea herring. — The copepods (red feed) and schizopods 

 (shrimp) constitute the principal food of the sea herring. When 

 gorged with food on being taken from the water the ;fish are said to 

 be feedy, in which condition they are unfit for packing. The diffi- 

 culty encountered in the form of feedy fish may be overcome by 

 holding the fish in pounds attached to weirs until they are free from 

 feed, and by cutting and eviscerating the fish before sending them 

 through the packing process. 



Swells. — Two organisms, a bacillus apparently identical with Niel- 

 sen's Bacillus Walfischrauschorand and Bacillus B, a nonspore-bearing 

 pathogenic gas-producing bacterium, are associated with the feed of 

 the small herring, the former being more frequently found with the 

 schizopods and the latter with the copepods. During decomposition 

 of the copepods and schizopods (feed), both ammonia and amines 

 were produced in very large quantities. Growth of the two organ- 

 isms in pure culture on fish media also produced ammonia and amines. 

 Apparently swells are produced by the action of these organisms, 

 also the condition of the fish known as belly blown. 



Transportation of the fish. — -It is unnecessary to salt excessively 

 fish which are to be in transit for only a reasonable length of time. 

 Such salting should be done with the idea of saving time in the 

 pickling shed, rather than as a means of preservation, as decompo- 

 sition, particularly in the viscera and contents, is not completely 

 prevented by the presence of salt. The limit of the time to be con- 

 sumed in transporting fish in salt, without refrigeration, seems to be 



