27 



wives requires greater development, and the possibilities of 

 canning the young for sardines and of utilizing the roe should 

 also be considered. 



Food Value. — The value of the alewife as a food is becoming 

 more and more appreciated. In spite of its numerous bones it 

 is a delicious fresh table fish and a nutritious food, easily pre- 

 served. Its proteid and fat content ranks well with our other 

 food fishes. Milroy (7), in studying the food value of the sea 

 herring, found that the total proteid and fat percentage at the 

 spawning season was slightly in favor of the full and lowest 

 in the spent fish. The alewives are taken when full of spawn. 

 Nevertheless, outside of local home consumption the amount 

 of alewives eaten fresh is comparatively small, since for ship- 

 ment the fish is better marketed cured. 



Salting. ■ — In all curing or preserving operations the first 

 essentials for the production of a first-class food are good fresh 

 fish, care in handling and transporting, cleanliness and protec- 

 tion from weather conditions. The fish should be salted when 

 fresh. Cleaning is advantageous, as it does away with the 

 blood and those parts most liable to early decomposition, and 

 gives the brine a better chance to penetrate. The extent of 

 cleaning, if it is done at all, varies with the locality. There 

 is little need of sorting, as the alewives run a fairly uniform 

 size. No special standard is followed as to the amount of salt 

 which is necessary for preserving since it depends upon the 

 condition of the fish and their destination. Fat fish require 

 more salt than lean, and cleaned fish less than those salted 

 whole. Alewives sent to tropical countries, and those to be 

 kept for long periods, should receive more salt. The fish are 

 salted in layers in barrels and kegs, after they have been pickled 

 in brine. The maximum weight of an alewife is one-half pound, 

 the average ranging between one-third and two-fifths of a 

 pound. 



A Rhode Island method of curing is to place the alewives in 

 the strongest possible brine for twenty-four to forty-eight 

 hours, when they are turned over and stirred, with repetition 

 of the process every two days. After one week they are packed 

 as closely as possible in strongly made barrels, about 2 bushels 

 of salt being used per barrel. 



