PRESERVATION OF FISHERY PRODUCTS FOR FOOD. 
413 
DRY-SALTED CHANNEL BASS. 
Oliaimel bass or druuilisb are caught in considerable numbers along the south 
Atlantic coast during the late summer, and the small demand for them in the fresh- fish 
trade results in many of them being salted for local use during the winter, especially 
along the North Carolina Banks. The following process is emidoyed: 
Each lish is split down the belly and eviscerated, the head is cut ott M'ith a hatchet or large 
knife, the backbone is removed, and the fish split in halves. Each half or fletch is then scored 
lengthwise from the napes to the tail 0 ]i the flesh side, the cuts being about 2 inches from each other 
and penetrating the flesh to the skin. The fletches are washed free from blood, etc., and placed in 
barrels or vats with dry salt sprinkled in abundance among them and with strong brine i)oured over 
them. When sufficiently cured the fish are removed from the pickle and placed in the open air on 
boards, benches, or any convenient place for drying. Care must be taken to shield them from rains, 
and they should be placed under cover at night to protect them from heavy dews. When sufficiently 
dried they are stored in a cool, dry place until marketed. 
The reduction in weight through dressing amounts to about 50 per cent, and 
through curing and drying about 33 per cent additional, making the dried weight 
about 35 per cent of the round weight. The only market is among the coast people — 
among the fishermen and their neighbors on the mainland. They sell for 8 to 15 cents 
per side, or 15 to 30 cents x^er fisb, an ecprivalent of 1 to 2 cents i)er xiouud. 
DRY-SALTED KINGFISH. 
The great bulk of the kiugfish caught in this country is sold in a fresh state; but 
at Key West and some other points on the coast, when the fresh-fish market is fully 
sujjplied-, the surplus catch is salted. The method usually emxiloyed at Key West in 
drying and salting the fish is thus described by Mr. W. H. Abbott: 
If the fish are not disposed of the first day after being caught, they are lightly salted and dried 
in the sun, in which condition they will keep for a week or two, and if the weather is favoralde they 
will probably keep a week longer, and if quite thoroughly dried the fish will keep a much longer 
period. Generally the fisherman is a man of very little means and has no capital to work with; 
consequently the supply of salt which he is able to buy is very small. The salt used is from the 
Bahama Islands. The fish are laid on a bos or bench and the thick part of the fish cut transversely, 
nearly through to the skin, at distances of 1 to inches apart. After the fish have been jjrepared in 
this way, the fisherman takes a small amount of salt and carefully sjtrinkles it over the entire surface 
of the fish and into the cuts, so as to make sure of tlieij- being properly cured. He is very careful not 
to waste the salt by scattering it about otherwise than on the fish. If the fish are to be sold in a few 
days, they are not exposed to the sun; but if to be kept for a longer period it is necessary to have 
some of the moisture taken out by the direct rays of the sun. 
In a report on the Gulf fishing-grounds and fisheries, by J. W. Collins, the follow- 
ing descriiition occurs : 
As a rule, the great bulk of the kiugfish taken by the Key West fleet is sold and eaten in a fresh 
condition, hut occasionally some fish are salted on the boats, and a greater quantity are split and salted 
after they are lauded, the surplus being disposed of in this manner. These salted fish are often dried, 
and to facilitate this and to insure the more thorough drying of the liber the thick part of the flesh 
is cut transversely nearly to the skin, at a distance of about an inch apart. There is no systematic 
method of drying, as in curing cod, but the fish are hung across rails, spread on wood piles, or 
disposed of in any other manner where they may have a chance to dry, a favorite method being to 
suspend them by the tail. Cured in this way they make tolerably good food, but it is altogether 
probable that a much liner article of Ibod might be obtained by smoking the fish. 
The amount of kingfisli itrepared for market in this way is not known, but it is 
relatively small. 
