PRESERVATION OF FISHERY PRODUCTS FOR FOOD. 
163 
ICING COD, HADDOCK, AND BLUEFISH. 
During the last thirty years cod and haddock have largely increased the fresh-fish 
trade. Prior to 1860 haddock was very little esteemed, but at present it is the most 
important fish iu the fresh-fish markets of the New England States and one of the 
most important in the United States. During 1889 the (piaiitity of fresh haddock 
received at New England ports aggregated 41,155,481 pounds, and of cod, 30,168,643 
pounds, nearly all being the product of the vessel fisheries. 
In the fresh cod and haddock fisheries the hold of each vessel is generally fitted 
up with twelv^e to fifteen iiens, each about 6 or 8 feet long and 4 or 5 feet wide, with 
capacity for 1 or 2 tons of fish and the necessary ice. When the vessel is making a 
long trip, from 10 to 20 tons of ice are carried, but during cold weather this quantity 
is much reduced. When the fish are received on the vessel the men dress them, 
seizing each fish by grasping it about the eye or some part of the head with the left 
hand and ripping it down the throat, removing the viscera, which is thrown over- 
board, while the liver and roes are placed in barrels. The fish are washed in tubs or 
by pouring buckets of water over them as they lie on the deck, and are then ready 
for icing in the pens. A layer of block ice is placed at the bottom of each pen, next 
a layer of fish, backs up, and, sometimes, when the weather is warm, the abdominal 
cavity of the fish is filled with fine ice. A layer of ice is placed over the fish and 
about the ends and sides, and successive layers of fish and ice are added with a layer 
of ice on top of all, the ice being chiseled or planed with a sharp dentated chisel 
attached to a long handle. The care taken in icing the fish conforms to the probable 
time that will elapse before the schooner reaches port; when the weather is very cold 
and the wind favorable for a quick run to market the quantity of ice used is largely 
reduced or it is even dispensed with altogether. 
The method of icing bluefish on the New York market vessels differs little from 
the process applied to cod and haddock. The vessels carry 15 to 25 tons of ice each 
in the pens, whence it is removed as the fish are stored. Immediately on landing on 
the vessel’s deck the fish are split from the pectoral fin to the vent, the viscera removed 
and the stomach cavities washed thoroughly. At the bottom of each pen is placed a 
layer of block ice, 6 or 8 inches thick, covered with a thin layer of chiseled ice. On 
this is placed a layer of bluefish, backs upward, and inclined slightly on the side, so 
that all moisture may run from the stomach cavity. This is succeeded by alternate 
layers of chiseled ice and bluefish until the pen is nearly full, the whole being covered 
with a layer of crushed ice. 
ICING HALIBUT. 
The fresh-halibut industry is one of the most extensive branches of fishery trade 
depending almost entirely on the use of ice. On the Atlantic coast alone about 
10,000,000 pounds of fresh halibut are handled annually, and there is also a consider- 
able trade on the Pacific coast. In the early years of the halibut fishery, on Georges 
and other neighboring banks, no ice was used, the fish being simply eviscerated and 
placed iu heaps in the hold. Later, in order to prevent a bruised and compressed 
appearance in those in the lower part of the heap, the fishermen susi)ended the fish by 
the tails in the hold, this being practiced as late as 1846 iu tight-bottomed vessels. 
