4 
BULLETIN OF THE UNITED STATES FISH COMMISSION. 
The essential steps in the preparation of bloater herring are as follows: Imme- 
diately after being canglit the fish are dry-salted from 12 to 24 hours if fat, or only 6 
hours if lean. They are then smoked for 4 to 16 hours and are ready for consumption. 
Yarmouth bloaters bring a good price; sometimes as much as 17s. 6cZ. is 
received for 100 fish. 
RED HERRING. 
A special grade of salted and smoked herring is known to the English and 
Scotch trade under this name. The fisli are destined chiefly for the Italian, Grecian, 
and general Mediterranean trade, but some are sold in London and other parts of 
Great Britain. Some of the herring dealers handle only red herring; but, as a rule, 
the preparation of red herrings is incidental to t he packing of other grades. 
The fish which are destined to be made into red herrings are often those which 
have been kept at sea for several days to a fortnight, and hence have become too 
hard, from prolonged salting, to be made into bloaters, kippers, or regular pickled 
herring. If they have been salted too long on the vessels they are spitted on sticks 
and softened by steeping them in fresh water. The special peculiarities of red 
herring are that they are round, are rather heavily salted, and are smoked for a long 
time to give them a good rich color. 
When intended for export to very warm countries red herring are salted for 30 
to 48 hours in strong brine and are then smoked for a fortnight or three weeks. 
For temperate or cold countries the fish are kept for a shorter time in pickle and are 
smoked 10 or 11 days. Hard-wood sawdust and hard-wood sticks are considered 
necessary in producing the smudge and heat required to give to these fish their 
peculiar flavor. 
Red herring for the Mediterranean trade are packed with their heads against 
the barrel and their tails at the center, in dry-ware barrels holding 500 to 600 fish, 
half barrels holding 300 to 350 fish, and kegs or third barrels holding 180 to 200 fish. 
The average gross prices for these packages in recent years have been 10s., 5s. to 6s., 
and 31s. to 4s., respectively. The expenses on a barrel for freight and commissions 
are about 3s. , the fish being sent by rail to Liverpool and thence by water to the 
Mediterranean. They are sometimes packed in tin cases when destined for especially 
warm countries, and for the London market they are packed in flat boxes holding 50 
to 60 fish. 
KIPPERED HERRING. 
Among the various kinds of prepared herring none ranks higher than kippered 
herring. The essential characteristic of kippered herring (and of all kippered 
fish) is that, before being salted and smoked, they are split and eviscerated. Fish 
intended to be made into kippers should be very fresh when received from the 
vessels. At Yarmouth large fish are preferred for this method, while at Aberdeen 
small, fat fish are preferred. 
As soon as received they are split down the back from tail to head, eviscerated, 
and then salted in strong brine of Liverpool salt for 15 to 60 minutes, according to 
fatness. They are then spread on square sticks by means of hooks, and smoked 
over allot fire of hard-wood shavings for 6 to 8 hours (Aberdeen) or 10 to 16 hours 
(Yarmouth), requiring constant attention. The color imparted to the skin is either 
golden or light, to suit the markets. After cooling they are packed in boxes 
