﻿14 The Philippine Journal of Science im 



room and kept at a temperature of from —0° to — 3 C C, will keep 

 for from ten to fourteen days only. If the fish is carefully 

 handled and gutted, the gills removed and the inside wiped with a 

 dry cloth, and the fish wrapped in oilpaper, it will keep in sweet 

 condition and retain its flavor for three weeks. 



Herring and mackerel stand freezing better than most other 

 Philippine fishes. Many people who have cold storage, espe- 

 cially Americans, believe the best way to preserve fish is to 

 freeze them, then immerse in water, and refreeze or glaze. This 

 method is extensively used in the Canadian and American 

 fisheries. 



There is also a method of freezing fish in ice while they are 

 still alive, using oxygen to reduce the amount of water necessary 

 to be frozen, but this method is still in the experimental stage. 

 It is difficult to predict its future. 



For ordinary transportation of fish from the fishing grounds 

 to the market, it is usual for the vessel to carry a cargo of ice 

 in the bins. This should be between decks in the coolest part 

 of the ship and be as well insulated as possible. When the fish 

 are caught, they are cleaned and washed at once. A layer of 

 cracked ice from 7 to 10 centimeters thick is placed on the floor 

 of one of the bins. A layer of fish is placed over this and 

 covered with chiseled ice, grading into cracked ice to the size of 

 a walnut. Alternating layers of fish and ice are put in until the 

 bin is full, when a layer of ice 15 centimeters or more thick is 

 placed over the top. If the room is kept at freezing point, these 

 fish will remain from twelve to fourteen days or longer in sweet 

 condition. If possible, and there need be no great difficulty if 

 the fishing is along shore, the fish should be chilled before they 

 are packed in the above manner, as they will keep longer and 

 not require so much ice in shipping. 



Great strides have been made in the shipping of iced fish in 

 the past few years, and it is well demonstrated that careful 

 handling and packing will amply repay the additional expense 

 and trouble. 



PREPARING FISH FOR SHIPMENT 



A number of complaints have been received by the Bureau 

 of Science that the dried fish put up in certain places in the 

 Islands will not keep and that as a matter of fact quantities have 

 to be thrown away because they are spoiled. This, undoubtedly, 

 in the cases examined, resulted from slack salting and storage 

 in damp bodegas. The only remedy for this is to spread the 



