VIGNETTES FROM NATURE.

Otago Witness, Issue 3332, 23 January 1918, Page 60

VIGNETTES FROM NATURE.

By G. M. Thomson, F.L.S

XIX.—A HARVEST OF SILVER AND GOLD (Continued). It is quite certain that if our fishermen provided their boats with suitable nets there would be no difficulty whatever in catching pilchards in any quantity along this east coast of New Zealand when- 1 ever the shoals w r ere visiting the shores. But the question would be what to do with them if they were taken. In places where sardines are tinned all the work after the catching of the fish is done by women, and this is where we'would fail, for women here do not take any part in the fishing industry as they do in all the older countries of the world. Let rne give a brief sketch of the way sardines are treated at Concarneau, the greatest centre of the industry : " The cannery managers, having determined on the approximate prices they will pay for the different sizes of fish, send their purchasing women to the wharf as the boats come in, and the bargains are then made. Sometimes the fishermen hold out for better prices, and animated discussions ensue. On arriving at the wharves the fishermen at once ,begin to discharge their catch. The fish are counted by hand into wicker baskets with round bottoms and sides, each basket having 200 fish (plus 5 per cent, for possible imperfect fish). When the tide is low some men remain in the boats and count the fish into baskets, while others haul the baskets- to the wharf by ropes and carry them to the shore. The baskets could hold three to five times as many sardines as are put into them, but it is the desire not to crowd the fish. If sardines of different sizes have been caught, it is necessary to sort them into separate baskets. As a matter of fact, however, the nets do the sorting, as each kind of mesh takes fish of a rather uniform size. "Before the sardines pass into the hands of the canner the fishermen take baskets of fish and move them rapidly up and down in the water in order to remove the dirt and loose scales from the fish, and make them look bright. Many scales come off, and the shores of the harbour are lined with them after a day's fishing. The water about the shores is usually quite foul, and the rinsing of the fish therein seems verv objectionable. " The fish are then taken by the fishermen to the agent of the cannery to which the cargo has previously been sold, and the contents of each basket are poured into a flat box or basket. If a cannery is conveniently located, the fishermen may the fish directly thereto, but as a rule they are taken to the factory in waggons, the trays being carefully packed so that no pressure comes on the fish. From the time the sardines are first caught everything that will bruise, mash, or otherwise impair the soundness of the fish is carefully avoided,. The method of discharging the catch in small lots ensures the arrival of the fish at the cannery in similar quantities, and obviates the formation of large piles in the cutting room-, as the cutters are in ample numbers promptly to dispose of the fish as brought in. " The prices received by the fishermen are regulated by the factory operators, and depend on the supply, the size and qualitv of the fish, the weather, and other considerations'. The fish of each boat are virtually sold at auction, only there _ is, as a rule, ho counter-bidding, the prices offered by one or two factories being adopted by the others and accepted by the fishermen. If a fisherman is not satisfied with the price offered by one factory, he is at liberty to seek a higher price elsewhere. Some boats always sell their catch to the same factory, and all of them, to a greater or less extent, deal with ' particular factories. The maximum price which factory operators can profitably pay for sardines is 25 francs (£1) per" 1000 fish. The following are the average prices for fish per 1000 at Concarneau in 1900. the size of the fish being <mu"-ed bv the mesh of the nets used, thus- Sixty mm. (2m), 17 to 18 francs: 52 mm., 7 to 9 francs; 40 mm., 2£ to 5 francs. . " Women represent the factories as purchasing agents. They are given considerable dfscretion by their employers, and are very sharp in making bargains. The price agreed on is for the entire eargo. Payments are not made in money, but in tokens or tickets, which are redeemed weekly. As the fishermen deliver their fish, two baskets full, at a time, to the agents of the canneries, they r-eceive a metal tag or token with the name of the buyer on" it. When all the fish are landed the metal pieces are counted and surrendered, and a claim check is issued in their place. At the end of each week the master or the owner of the boat (often the same person) goes to the factory, receives the money due, and apportions the earnings of the crew. " No statistics for the canning industry are available, but it may be stated that over 100 factories are in operation, and

not less than 15,000 persons, mostly women and girls, are employed therein. '* When the fish are taken to the factory they are spread on large tables and sprinkled with a little salt. The women who remove the heads and viscera either stand or sit, and perform their work with great rapidity. The refuse is disposed of to farmers for fertilising their fields. Immediately after evisceration the fish are placed in brine for half an hour or more, then placed in small wicker baskets, and twice put through salt water to wash them. The fish are then dried on wire trays, holding about 150 fish each, for an hour or so. and are then immersed in the same wire baskets in boiling oil. This immersion lasts about two minutes; but as they are quite dry when put in, much of the oil is taken up. The baskets are then removed to a table or platform with an inclined metal iop, where the surplus oil is allowed to drain from the fish. Tlie sardine _ manufacturers employ two kind* of oil in their canning operations—olive oil and arachide or peanut oil, and small quantities of sesame oil have at times been used. While the muanfacturers knowingly handle only the oils named, it is understood that cottonseed oil, being tasteless and cheap, is used by the French oildealers for adulterating the two. French olive oil is used with the best quality of canned sardines, and fish packed in it will remain in good condition 10 years or longer. Peanut oil is extensively used, and is cheaper than olive oil. The mass remaining after the oil is expressed from the peanuts is not only used as food for cattle, but is ground into flour and employed as bait in the sardine fishery. " Peanut oil is largely used to meet the demand for a low-priced sardine; it is practically tasteless. The packing in tins is all done by women, and has to be done carefully, as for some' countries the blue back of the sardine must be uppermost when the tin is opened; while in fish for French or Belgian consumption the white belly has to be uppermost. Sealing the bottoms on the cans is one of the few things done by men. - *■" The canning of sardines gives employment to many thousands of persons'' at •what are considered good wages, and in some fishing towns gives work to practically all able-bodied persons who are not engaged in fishing. Living in the fishing towns is very cheap. The principal diet is fish and bread, and meat is eaten usually but once a week. " Among_ women and girls in the Brittany factories uniform wages, prevail. The rate, in 1900 was francs for each lOut; fish. A good week's income for cutters and packers is 30 francs (245). " There are many conditions which operate to make French sardines so much finer than those of other countries. Thus the. fish are never canned at the beginning of the season. They are then excellent for eating fresh," and are thus largely used, but they are not considered fat enough for the canning process. They are also caught singly in a delicate mesh net, are never crushed, and are in all their subsequent treatment handled most delicately. " To show the difference I may point out how American sardines are handled. In the French fishery the individual fish is the unit dealt with; in the Maine fishery it is the hogshead. There the fish are driven into great weirs—sometimes a whole school of them, —and are held in confinement, sometimes for days at a time. In taking them to the cannery they are piled deep in the boats, and get crushed and bruised in all their subsequent handlings, and no care afterwards and no kind of oil or spice can replace or restore their pristine quality." Now for the application of the lesson to New Zealand conditions. In the first place we have the fish, or an almost identical form, in our waters, and at times in inconceivable abundance. Its visitation to the coast is somewhat erratic; some years the shoals are few, and appear only at intervals. This phenomenon is, however, common to all fish, and we know very little as to the causes of their migrations. Thus from 1887 to 1890 there was an alarming scarcity of sardines on the French coast, and the outlook for the industry was serious; but after these lean years the fish returned in their former numbers. When the fish are abundant here it would not be difficult to fill the boats with them, but they could not be dealt with afterwards. Large fish—and they sometimes grow to 10ih* or 12in in length—could be cured as kippers or bloaters; but the manufacture of sardines as such would be impossible. Under existing conditions of the fishing industrv it would not pay the fishermen to -handle them at all. If proper conditions did exist —if there were proper wharves for the boats to land their catches at. suitable sheds to receive and handle fish, freezers, smokehouses, oilextraction apparatus, and manure factories, —all operating together or in concert, then it might be possible to utilise this great source of wealth and food material. As it is, we are in the midst of abundance, and can make no practical use of it. It may come about some day, though, as wages axe now, I see no prospect of it. Meanwhile the harvest of silver and gold is not for us, but for those who have the, faith and the power to develop our vast untold wealth.