2 



(1) Handle, fish as carefully as possible. If bruised, gashed or 

 trampled on, their best selling and food qualities are destroyed. 



(2) Avoid piling the fish in such masses that they crush each other 

 out of shape. Appearance and flavour are lost by heavy pressure. 



(3) Fish should be cleaned, washed to remove the blood, and packed 

 in cracked or crushed ice, so as to keep them in the best condition. 

 Gutted fish packed immediately in crushed ice keep better than ungutted 

 fish. . 



(4) On bringing the fish ashore, they should be placed in cold 

 conditions, crushed ice being used; or transferred in quantities to large 

 central freezers, where rail shipments can be made up. Fish change 

 and lose quality immediately after death, and they are best if placed at 

 once in cold conditions. In 36 to 48 hours, unless placed in cold 

 storage, decomposition is apparent especially in the region of the 

 intestines. 



(5) The cold conditions should be kept uniform, for if the tem- 

 perature rises or the fish are allowed to thaw, they spoil more quickly 

 than if never frozen at all. Heat and rise in temperature are much to 

 be feartid. 



' Three very important points must never be forgotten by the fisher- 

 n'en and by others handling frozen fish. First: freezing does not make 

 a fresh fish out of a bad fish. Fish must be fresh and in the best con- 

 dition on being "subjected to refrigeration, and all their food qualities 

 must be preserved without any serious change. Second: fish should 

 not be thawed out and refrozen, as deterioration and loss of quality 

 results. Once frozen they must be kept at the same low temperature 

 until used for food. Third : Eapidity of decay after removal from ice 

 is in proportion to the number of hours elapsing before.icing the freshly- 

 caught fish. 



The methods of freezing fish may be classified as, first, the dry 

 method, that is freezing in the cold air or in a refrigerator, and second, 

 the wet method, which is freezing in brine at a very low temperature. 



Fish when frozen by the first method are best if the blood and 

 mucus are removed, usually gutted, and placed in crushed ice, and 

 carried from the boat to the quick freezer, and placed in trays or on 

 racks close to the refrigeration pipes at a temperature much below 

 freezing.* In twelve to fourteen hours the fish are usually frozen solid. 



•The "sharp freezer" is often 5° to 18° below zero F. 



