Page Two
THE FISHERMAN
April 12, 1946
Continued From Last Week
Fish Spoilage - Causes And Methods Of Control
The following routine should be adhered to in spraying fishing vessels:
1. Disinfect just before loading ice.
2. Disinfectant solution recom^ mended is usually from 2% to 5 parts of commercial formalin to 100 of water. Since commercial formalin contains approximately 40 percent of the chemical, 'formaldehyde," this means that the solution actually contains from 1 to 2 percent of the active ingredient. I have found that by adding about 2 ozs. of sodium nitrite crystals to 100 gallons of spraying solution corrosion can be completely abolished, even when the solution is left on naked iron or steel surfaces. An alternative solution is 0.1 percent of a cationic detergent such as Roccal, R2L,Floral, etc. By adding 0.1 percent of sodium nitrite to this type of spray, corrosion is totally inhibited.
3. Pump out all bilge water and spray with a commercial power spray all exposed surfaces of the holds and then deck, cutting table, gear and bilge pump.
4. Load ice, close hatch and disinfect bilge with formalin or other germicide at intervals during fishing and after pumping.
Disinfecting should be carried out after each trip, and it has been suggested that a vessel with 50,000 pound hold capacity will require 20 gallons of solution. Since the cost of the germicidal solutions is merely 5 to 8 dollars per 100 gallons this would only amount to about one or one and a half dollars for treating a large vessel, which is negligible in relation to the cost of ice and other expenses.
Preparation of the Hold
Under this reading comes the question of construction of the hold and the importance of good insulation and preventing air leaks. Since Mr. Young and his associates will cover this next week I shall pass on to the way fish should be handled.
Great care should always be taken in landing fish since bruises, tears and lacerations can seriously hasten the deterioration of fish. If a gaff is used to land the fish they should be gaffed through the head, and if a second gaff is used, through the tail, but never through
A lecture delivered by Dr. H. L. A. Tarr# Pacific Fisheries Experimental Station, Wednesday, February 20, prepared for The Fisherman by Breen Melvin.
the body. Careless gaffing disfigures the fish, carries contaminating bacteria directly into the fish, and may break blood vessels, causing discoloration of the fish.
Once landed, the fish should be treated as follows: If they are placed in a checker they should not be thrown too violently against the sides because bruises will reduce the grade and lower market value. They should certainly not be permitted to lie too long in the checker, especially in warm weather, but should be dressed as soon as possible. When gutting and removing the kidneys it is advisable to tear off the skin covering the kidneys with the fingers if possible since slashing with a knife may cause a laceration which will permit bacteria to enter the flesh. All congealed blood and kidney should be scraped out before hosing with water, because blood remaining in the poke is an excellent food for spoilage bacteria.
At this stage care of livers must be emphasized. Since vitamin A is quite unstable, the livers should not be allowed to warm up, but should be washed, placed in the liver cans and promptly stowed in ice.
It is very important that the fish be stowed properly in ice, since much deterioration can take place in the hold if poor methods are used. They should be passed into the hold carefully so as to avoid bruising, and the pokes filled with ice. It is probably best to store fish with belly cavity down, because in this position the water from the melting ice drains away and cannot form a pool of stale water. Since the quantity of ice to be taken on a trip varies with the size of catch, air and sea temperatures, duration of storage and insulating efficiency of the hold, it is difficult to state exactly the amount which should be loaded.
In general, it has been stated that the weight of ice taken should be about equal to that of the expected catch, and certainly not much less unless the trip is a short one. Since the purpose of ice is to cool the fish rapidly to as near to 32 F. as possible, the fish should be surrounded with ice. In holds the fish at the bottom may be crushed by the weight of ice and fish above them, therefore, it
UFAWU HELP EARNS PRAISE
The following letter of appreciation was received this week by UFAWU Secretary Bill Rigby, from Leslie M. Hill, brother of Harold Hill, whose death was reported in The Fisherman three weeks ago.
"Deai- friends and fellow members of the UFAWU. I wish to extend my deep gratitude, heartfelt thanks, and appreciation, for the sympathy and kindness of both you and your office staff, and all the union members, extended to me during the loss of my dear brother Harold S. Smith, who passed on March 17 at Cortez Island. Especially do I wish to thank you for your prompt interest in forwarding the death benefits, which took care of the funeral expenses, and proved a great financial relief to me."
ENGINE HIE
IMPERIAL LUBRICANTS
British Columbia Fishermen know that their engines last longer when they use Imperial Marine Products. Keep your engine on the job and out of the repair shop by fortifying and protecting it with Marvelube motor oils and greases. When you use these high grade lubricants you have smoother engine performance and lower operating costs. The next time you need oil or grease buy Marvelube —sold at 90 Imperial Marine Service Stations conveniently located on the B.C. Coasf.
BBEEN MELVIN
has been suggested that fish should be stowed on shelves.
It might be asked how long round fish can be stored in ice. This is a difficult question to answer accurately. For fish such as cod, haddock, salmon, flounders and soles I feel that if possible the fish should never remain more than five days in ice, and preferably for not longer than three or four days, since after 5 days active bacterial spoilage usually, commences. Probably halibut because of their peculiar physical structure and small gut cavity can be kept somewhat longer than this. But if they are merely landed, re-iced and sent off on a long railway journey they should not be landed after extended periods. I recognize that this standard is difficult and perhaps impossible to maintain under existing fishing conditions but I am looking forward to better and ideal conditions so that firm markets for fish will be constantly available.
Germicidal Ice
There is another point which should be mentioned in connection with the storage of fish on boats, and that is the possible value of germicidal ices. Experiments on the use of germicidal ices apparently, started with work carried out in England about 1922. Ice containing sodium hypochlorite (bleach) in small amounts was used, and in 1926 further experiments on such "chlorinated ice" were made in Seattle. In general it was found that only slight improvement in keeping quality of iced fish resulted when ice of this type was employed. Other Ices which have been tried are those containing small amounts of carbon dioxide, hydrogen peroxide, formaldehyde, benzoic acid, sodium benzoate, etc. None of these proved very helpful, or if they did, were not acceptable to the pure food authorities.
In our experience ice containing a small amount of sodium nitrite (about 0.1 percent) offers most promise, but ices containing small amounts of certain of the cationic germicides mentioned above, or of benzoic acid or chloramines have not given very good results. Ger-
Cummins Diesel Sales of B.C Ltd.
Rupert Co-op Meet Brings Vision Of Happy Future
By AN OLD-TIMER
At the annual general meeting of the Prince Rupert Fishermen's Cooperative, I gained some insight into this form of organization of the working class. I heard the directors' report
man workers claim to have preserved fish for several days longer than normally by using ice containing a trace (1 part in about 200,000) of a bacteriostatic flavine dye, and we intend to check their results if a supply of the material can be obtained.
Another interesting agle to this was explored by workers in Germany some ten years ago. They suggested first that the temperature of fish in the vessel hold could be kept low if a little salt was scattered over the ice. Unfortunately, such treatment would not give uniform results because the salt was not evenly distributed. They managed to overcome this difficulty experimentally by making what are known as eutectic ices. Thus two salts (sodium b'i-sodium phosphates) when dissolv-carbonate and one of the simple ed in about 2 or 3 percent concentration in water from solutions which when frozen, contain a uniform amount of the salt concentrated throughout the mass of ice.
The resulting eutectic ices have constant melting points lower than those of ordinary water ice. Thus eutectic ice made from bicarbonate melted at about 28 F., while the one made from phosphate melted at about 30 F. In experiments these ices Kept the fish longer and in better condition than ordinary ice which melted at 32 F., because the fish was considerably colder. Personally I do not wish to be critical but I cannot see much future for ices of this type in practical fisheries. They would probably be rather expensive to make since about 40 to 50 lbs. of the salt would be required for a ton of ice. Also treated fish would certainly asorb quite marked amounts of the salts. Sodium chloride (common salt) normally hastens rancidity in fatty fish and development of salt fish flavor in non-fatty fish. It is quite likely that other sodium salts may act similarly.
Mention must be made in this connection of experiments carried out at the Research Board's Halifax Station about 18 years ago in which it was shown that round fish kept much better when stored in salt water maintained at about 30 degrees F. than when stored in ordinary ice.
In closing I should like to say that the Pacific Fisheries Experimental Station is always searching for methods of hindering spoilage of fresh and frozen fish, and for ways in which they can be applied.
they are all fishermen; I heard the managers of each department report, and most of them have come up from the bottom, and I learned how important a Credit Union can be to a Cooperative.
We voted to enlarge our operations, we set up a planning committee to bring about a merger of all the fishermen's cooperatives in B.C. We voted money for cooperative education. All kinds of issues, some of them complicated, were discussed with intelligence. Employees of the co-op, who can be shareholders, took part in the discussions; there were delegates from other cooperatives, and from trade unions.
As I looked over that body of clean, well dressed people, my thoughts went back to 1926, to a meeting of trollers, starting out to organize the fishermen.
In that meeting, very few had a decent suit of clothing. Now, I saw that some of the old-timers
VETERAN UNIONIST TAKES BIG STEP
John Frank McDonald, who made his start in the fishing industry back in 1919, was married last Saturday at Vancouver. Hia wife is the former Ethel May Griswood of this city. Both the bride and groom were born in Moncton, New Brunswick.
One of the first members of the former Local 89, Fish Cannery, Reduction Plant and Allied Workers' Union, McDonald started fishing for B.C. Packers in 1919, after returning from overseas. For the past 23 years, he has worked at Sunnyside Cannery. He is iron chink man. He goes to Kildonan this fall.
His wife will join him at Sunnyside as soon as a house is available. He left Tuesday after a very brief honeymoon.
were just as interested in progress as ever, and I thought of the days of the bindle stiff; of the days when, if you belonged to a union, you were on a blacklist, a dangerous character whose movements the police watched closely. In those days, many of the old-timers gave much; they fought, and some of them died, in the muskegs and on the rocks of Prince Rupert for a better life, and for the organizations of the people.
I visited the co-op's new plant. An ex-fisherman, in charge of construction, took me through the five-storey cold storage, the ice-making plant and storage room, around the fish dock into the gear loft; I saw all the up-to-date machinery; I went through the vitamin oil plant, I saw chemists testing the produce, and I saw the whole plant in operation. I went into the office, and met the staff there. I talked with engineers, mechanics, foremen, fish handlers in clean uniforms proudly wearing their UFAWU buttons. Here was a sense of belonging to a group, working together; the feeling of a better relationship than that in a commercial plant. It's a thing you have to see to understand.
I talked with all kinds of people in Prince Rupert, about politics, about the union, about the co-jop. The people there are changing. They have elected two CCF members to parliament, and the LPP is a strong and active party there. Nearly everyone belongs to a union; there is a strong sense of civic pride; labor takes an active part in the city's affairs, having elected a mayor and aldermen. People are working together.
I feel that it's much better this way, and that it will get better just as long as we work for it We have built many fish plants, fish boats, canneries, for others to own. We are now building them for ourselves. I saw some of the future. It works.
SOINTULA CO-OP MEMBERS
For the purpose of calculating your patronage rebates for 1945, all customers are requested to turn in their purchase slips for the above year. In accordance with cooperative principles, your rebates are based on your purchases and will be paid whether you are a shareholder or not.
SOINTULA
COOPERATIVE STORE ASSOCIATION
Fishermen!
FISH AND BUY COOPERATIVELY
Our Camps and Stores on the West Coast of Vancouver Island are ready to serve!
Kyuquot Trollers Co-operative Association
Head Office: Victoria, B.C.
Camps Only: Tofino Ucluelet Klaskish
Refuge Cove Winter Harbour
Camps with Stores: KYUQUOT BAMFIELD
OPEN I N VITATION
to all
COOPERATIVE FISHERMEN
SHARE YOUR RISK
BY INSURING YOUR BOAT IN
PACIFIC COAST FISHERMEN'S MUTUAL MARINE INSURANCE
COMPANY
ONE WEST CORDOVA STREET PHONE PAcific 0185 VANCOUVER, B.C.
DEPENDABLE MARINE DIESEL ENGINES 1832 W. Georgia Vancouver
STYLES VALUES QUALITY
Always at the Home of UNION MADE Clothing — and Friendly Service. •
Established for Over 40 Years
Phone PAc 3645 45 E. Hastings Vancouver
JOHN STANTON
BARRISTER, SOLICITOR NOTARY
503 Holden Bldg., 16 E. Hastings MArine 5746 Vancouver
RUPERT BUTCHERS
Meat, Groceries,
Vegetables and Delicatessen
"Li Ui Coo* For Yma Whilt Fithint"
Cooked Meats of All Kinds and Fresh Meat Pies Daily
Next to Royal Hotel
Phone 21—707 3rd Ave., West
PRINCE RUPERT, B.C.
FISHERMEN!
When In Northern B.C. Waters—Use Your Co-op Facilities
• Liver Oil Plant • Fishermen's Credit Union
• First Class Bakery • Fish Cold Storage
• Fish Camps With Stores And Oil Station
• Large General Fishing Supply Store In Prince Rupert
• Fishermen's Settlement Service • Ice Plant
• Agency Pacific Coast Mutual Marine Insurance Co.
Prince Rupert Fishermen's
Co-op Ass'n
Phone: Store—760 - 764 Cold Storage Plant—Red 786
Office—763 Engine Room—Blue 786
Ramsay Machine Works Ltd.
Machinists — Engineers — Founders — Patternmakers MARINE REPAIRS Phone G 5314 - 1630 Store St. - Victoria, B.<5.
DIBB PRINTING COMPANY
• OFFICE SUPPLIES
• PRINTING
Birthday and Everyday Cards
BOOKBINDING STATIONERY
Waterman's Fountain Pens
Besner Block, 3rd Street — Phone 234 — Prince Rupert