50 THE SEA FISHERIES 



ii'J in. in extreme length. The official stencil mark is affixed to 

 the head end of every barrel which receives the burnt -in official 

 brand on the bilge. Letters appear on the brand which are the 

 initials of the Board's branding officer ; the numerals showing the 

 year of packing. These pickled herring are more numerous than all 

 the other varieties of cured herring taken together. In the prepara- 

 tion of the fish considerable skill is required ; after the gills and 

 intestines are removed the fish are brine salted and then packed in 

 barrels and half-barrels. In Scotland the curing industry is an 

 important source of income to a large number of people. Men and 

 women to the number of nearly 38,000 were engaged in 1913 as 

 coopers, gutters, packers, and as seamen in carrying vessels. Of 

 this number 12,872 consisted of women employed solely in gutting 

 herrings, and their total earnings for the year amounted to about 

 £318,000, or an average per woman of £25 (including arles, wages, 

 lodgings (in England) and train fares). The number of barrels of 

 herrings cured, gutted and ungutted, shows a steady increase from 

 89,934 barrels in 1811 to 1,886,596 in 1913. Of the total cure of 

 pickled herrings 87 per cent is exported. The export to Germany 

 was 672,701 barrels in 1913 and to Russia 619,680 barrels. There 

 was an import duty of 3s. per barrel in Germany and 13s. per barrel 

 in Russia. 



The other varieties of cured herring^ are the bloater, kipper and 

 red. The bloater is intended for immediate or early consumption, 

 and is a round or unsplit herring which has only been slightly salted 

 and smoked. The fish, as soon as possible after capture, are dry 

 salted for from 6 to 24 hours, the longer time being for the fatter 

 fish, and then smoked. 



The red herring is generally prepared for foreign consumption. 

 The fish are salted in brine for two days and then smoked for a 

 fortnight . The wood and sawdust used for smoking is of the " hard 

 variety, and from this the peculiar flavour of the red is derived. 

 The red may be defined as a round herring, heavily salted, and 

 smoked for a long time. They are usually packed in barrels or half- 

 barrels, the former containing 500 to 600 fish. 



Kippers are first of all split and gutted, then salted in strong 

 brine for a short time, usually less than an hour, then spread out and 

 smoked over wood shavings. 



A new factor has been introduced into fishery reckoning during 

 the last few years through the capture of large quantities of herring 

 by steam trawlers. Hitherto these fish had been looked on as a 

 monopoly of the drifter. Trawling for herrings by steam trawlers 



J For a detailed description of methods of fish-curing see "The Art of Fish- 

 curing," published by the Fish Trades Gazette, London. 



