364 
BULLETIN OF THE UNITED STATES FISH COMMISSION. 
From 1835 to 1850 well-sraacks were employed, and though they were quite popular 
with New London and Greenport fishermen, they were not generally used on the 
Massachusetts coast. About 1840 a small quantity of ice was generally carried for 
icing the fish accidentally killed, and with the development of the trawl fishery the 
use of ice became general, both on smacks and on the tight-bottom vessels. At first 
the ice was not placed among the fish, being carried for the purpose of cooling the 
hold, but about 184(3 it became customary to crush it and mix it with the fish. 
The New England halibut vessels now usually carry from 15 to 30 tons of ice 
stored in pens in the hold of the vessel, similar to those used in the haddock fishery, 
and the present method of handling and icing the halibut is as follows: In dressing, 
each halibut is grasped by the gills with the left hand, the head raised from the deck, 
and with quick strokes of the knife the gills are separated from the head and from the 
napes. The fish is then ripped down the belly, and the gills and viscera are removed 
with the left hand. A second operator takes the halibut and with his bare right hand 
removes the ovaries from their cavities and the blood from the backbone, pressing his 
thumb along each side of the backbone to express the blood therefrom. The fish is 
then passed to the scrub gang, composed nsually of three men. One of these, hooking 
an iron gatf into the head of the fish and another gaff into one side of the nape, holds 
the fish up and open, while a second workman, with a hickory or oak broom, scrubs 
off all loose blood, slime, etc., from the spawn cavities and the backbone. During this 
process a third man souses water into the fish, com])letely rinsing it out. 
The halibut is next passed into the vessel’s hold, which is divided by permanent 
compartments into 10 or 12 iiens or bins, half on either side of the vessel, with an 
alleyway in the middle. A layer of ice is placed in the bottom of the bin, and on this 
is placed the halibut in rows or tiers, with heads toward the front and back of the 
bins and tails overlapping in the middle. The abdominal cavity of each fish is filled 
with, finely chiseled ice and the fish so placed in the bin that the ice will not spill from 
the cavity. No ice is placed between the fish, as in case of fresh cod and bluefish, 
because of its tendency to bruise the sides of the halibut. As each bin is filled, slide 
boards are placed at the front and a quantity of ice is put about the heads of the fish, 
both in the back and front of the bin, and on top of the fish is a layer (3 to 12 inches 
deep. The amount used varies, of course, according to the temperature, much more 
being required during warm weather than when the temperature is low. When packed 
in this manner, halibut will keep in good condition for three or four weeks. 
On arriving in port the halibut are removed from the hold of the vessel to the 
fish-house and assorted, the “white,” “gray,” and “seconds” or “poor” halibut being 
kept separate. The “white” halibut^are those having the under side pure white, the 
“gray” are more or less tinged with gray or drab in the same place, while the “poor” 
halibut or “seconds” are such as are slightly tainted in the vicinity of the abdominal 
cavity. The “white” halibut ranges from 3 to 15 cents per pound out of the vessel, 
the “gray” halibut is generally about two-thirds that allowed for white, and “poor” 
halibut sells for about 1 cent per pound. The distinction between “ white” and “ gray” 
halibut was made first in 1848, and while fishermen receive much less for the latter, 
little distinction is made in the retail trade between the two, both selling at nearly 
the same price, and it is impossible to distinguish them separately when cooked. 
After assortment the fish are weighed and 14 per cent is deducted as the weight of 
the heads to obtain the basis for settlement with the fishermen. The heads are cut 
