THE SMOKED-HERRING INDUSTRY. 487 
years. In 1867, as we are informed by Mr. R. C. Green, Richard Young, a native of Leith, Scot- 
land, but lately residing in Portland, Me., removed to Eastport for the purpose of smoking had- 
dock. Finding herring abundant, and knowing of the extent of the bloater business in Boston, he 
began curing them for shipment, practically on account of the lower price at which he secured 
his fish, driving the Boston dealers out of the field and compelling them to purchase their supplies 
from him and other parties who soon built smoke-houses in the locality. The business of the 
region has gradually increased from that time, until now Eastport puts up the greater part of the 
bloaters prepared in the United States. Several fishermen from three or four other towns have 
engaged. in the work from time to time. A few hundred boxes were put up annually at J onesport, 
Me., between 1872 and 1875, and the fishermen of Sutton’s Island, near Mount Desert, smoked a 
few bloaters about the same time. Portland dealers soon began curing bloaters, and they have 
continued the business, until now they rank second to Eastport in the quantity prepared. The 
people of Lubec are just turning their attention to the business. These three towns are the only 
ones at present engaged in tbe preparation of bloaters in the State of Maine, and, as far as we 
have been able to ascertain, none are put up in other parts of the country. 
METHODS OF PREPARATION.—We are indebted to Mr. R. C. Green, of Eastport, for the fol- 
lowing description of the methods employed in the preparation of bloaters in that locality. Dur- 
ing the months of October and November the supply of herring for bloaters is taken largely by 
the net-fishermen off the southern head of Grand Manan. Later the fish are secured in the same 
manner along the New Brunswick shore, between L’Etete and Point Lepreaux. They are usually 
brought to market as soon as they have been taken from the nets, but when not convenient to 
make the journey the fishermen salt them in bulk in the vessel until such time as it may be con- 
venient to market them. The bloaters prepared from the fresh fish are known as “ fresh-water 
bloaters,” and are considered far superior to the others, which are known as “salt-herring bloat- 
ers.” On reaching the shore the salt fish must be soaked for some time to remove any surplus 
of salt that they have absorbed, after which they are at once strung and hung in the smoke- 
house. The fresh fish on reaching the shore are immediately placed in strong pickle, where they 
are allowed to remain for two to three days, after which they are washed and strung on ordinary 
herring-sticks and placed in the bays with the others. Fires are then built and the fish are smoked 
for three to six days, according to the distance of the market for which they are intended. The 
method of smoking is similar to that employed in the preparation of hard herring, with the excep- 
tion that the bloaters, though salted a little more, are smoked for a much shorter period. Hard 
wood sawdust and chips are mostly used as giving the best color.* 
When the smoking is over and the fish have become cold, they are packed in boxes holding 
100 fish each, equal to 30 to 35 pounds in weight, and shipped as soon as possible, it being neces- 
sary to market them at once, as they are so lightly smoked that they Will not keep for any consid- 
erable period. 
The box at present used is made of pine. It is 21 inches long, 114 inches wide, and 6 inches 
*According to Mr. Wallem, the French bloaters are smoked for a much shorter period than the American. His 
translator represents him as saying of the French fish: 
“After the herrings have been 12 hours in the smoke, they are ready, and are in the north of France called 
‘boufi;’ they do not keep long, and are intended to be eaten soon. After they have been smoked 24 hours they keep 
better, and are called ‘prét,’ i. e.,‘ready;’ but for the distant markets they are not yet ‘ready;’ they must be 
-smoked 36 hours, and are then, strange to say, called ‘half-ready’ (demi-prét), because after they are ‘ready’ they are 
moved higher up and smoked for a while longer. These last-mentioned fish can from the north of France be sent to 
the south, whilst the prét herrings are principally intended for the Paris market. If the ‘bouffi’ herrings do not have 
a ready sale, they are again put in the smoke-house and are made into ‘prét’ herrings.” 
