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shipments to New York and St. Petersburg. which were disposed 
of at prices much higher than could be obtained for fish cured and 
packed by the old methods. Mr. Cowie and his staff will continue 
the experiments this year at other points on the Atlantic, and will 
also visit this Coast. 
At the close of the herring fishing season on the Atlantic coast, 
Mr. Cowie paid a visit to Nanaimo, with a view of finding out if 
the industry here is capable of development along the lines proposed 
on the Atlantic coast. The following extract from his report gives 
the results of his observations :— 
“Nanaimo seems to be the chief seat of the herring fishery, so 
far, in British Columbia. 
“From the middle of November on to the month of March, 
herring come into the harbour of Nanaimo in such apparently 
incredible quantities that, during some seasons, they are left 
stranded on the beach in huge masses, and become a nuisance as 
they lie rotting there. 
“The herring of the Pacific coast appear to be, generally 
speaking, of a smaller class, and contain a far greater amount of 
oil than the herring of the Atlantic. 
“While I found that these Pacific herring make very good 
kippers, they may not prove to be so well adapted as the Atlantic 
herring for curing purposes, owing to the great amount of oil they 
contain, even after the roe and milt has formed in them. 
“When I say that these herring differ from the Atlantic herring 
for purposes of curing, I do not mean that they cannot be cured, 
but that they will not keep in good condition for such a length of 
time as the herring of the Atlantic. 
“The more oil there is in herring, the more difficult they are 
to cure in pickle, and the sooner they go wrong and lose quality. 
An excess of oil seems to be a prominent feature of all kinds of 
fish on the Pacific coast, owing, possibly, to the equable temperature 
of the water and the richness of the food they live on. 
“ Notwithstanding this, however, attempts have been made 
within the last four years to cure these herring for export, with no 
little success. The method of curing which has been adopted is a 
good deal similar to the Scotch method, and, in my opinion, the 
trade may be developed along the lines on which they have started, 
with some slight improvements regarding details. 
“The barrel in use there is an admirable one, and is far ahead 
of the herring barrel in use on the Atlantic coast. It is strongly 
made, hooped with galvanized iron hoops, and is capable of carrying 
cured herring to any part of the world in good condition. 
