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ff. J. IMLACH, ALASKA PIONEER
HERRING PACKER WRITES ON PAST
PRESENT AND FUTURE INDUSTRY
Describes how in Nineteen-Nineteen ivhile Examining Fish in Seattle
He Discovered that Alaska Herring were Not Properly Packed,
and Proceeded to Investigate, his Inspection Trip to Alaska Prov
ing the Methods of Packing Most Primitive—In This, the First
Article, Mr. Imlach Writes of Herring Activities in the Cook
Inlet District, and of the Lack of Experienced Help by Packers
and Brokers—A History of the Early Herring Industry
This introductory article refers to conditions as they were prior to
Mr. Imlach’s immigration to this country in the year Nineteen
Teii, so Customs, Systems and Figures may Be Subject to Change.
By W. J. IMLACH
FROM TTIORSO and Wick, the most northerly points in Scotland,
and dotted along the northeastern coast to Peter’s Head and Fra
serburgh, are numerous other towns and villages. For centuries
past these hardy races have existed chiefly on their world-famous
herring fishing industry. Fraserburgh may be mentioned as the chief
herring fishing port in Scotland, with Peter’s Head, a neighboring
town, a close second. Fraserburgh, with a population of 12,000 has
100 herring packing companies. The fishing fleet of the port consists
of 800 gillnet fishing boats, and unlike the Alaskan system! of a packer
owning or hiring his boats, those fishermen own and control their own
L
W. J. IMLACH (Left) AND CAPT. NORD OF S. S. ALASKA (Right)
vessels; employ their own help and sell their catch by auction to the
highest bidder. The packers cure their herring, but they must be in
spected by a Government Inspector, and branded with a Government
stamp as a first-class product. The rejected goods, being of less
value are sold at a considerably lower price. The herring are then
shipped to Russia, Germany and other central European countries.
Mr. Imlach, the writer of the following herring article, is properly
introduced. He wras reared from infancy and employed in every phase
of the fishing industry in Fraserburgh, and The Gateway editor knows
of no authority better qualified to write on herring and the herring
packing industry than Mr. Imlach, who, the past season operated her
ring salteries very successfully in this and the westward district.
ENTERED BUSINESS IN 1919
My first introduction to Alaska cured
herring was in the year 1919, in Se
attle. On examining some fish for s
buyer, I found them in a very unsatis
factory condition. From this cause
arose my anxiety to investigate the
system adopted in Alaska. I engaged
with the Alaska Sea Food Products
Company to go to Cook’s Inlet, Halt
but Cove, and upon arrival there 1
found the methods adopted in fishing
very primitive. Salmon seine web, 2
to 3 1-2 inch mesh was being used,
This, of course, caught the herring
by the middle of the body, and as a
haul was not made for from 20 to 24
hours the result was that fully 50 per
cent of the fish were drowned. Had
they been hauled earlier, the remain
ing fish would have escaped from
the net.
Here I saw where the Scotch gill
net could be used to great advantage,
but on inquiry, I found that they had
already made unsuccessful efforts to
operate them. I then endeavored to
educate these people to the proper
use of this net, but I met with antag
onism of every description. This was
unfortunate, as many packing compa
nies would be prosperous today, had
they used better and more modern
fishing equipment. A Scotch gill net
is seven fathoms deep, and 17 fathoms
long. Each boat carries from 80 to
100 such nets, and eleven coils of
rope, each 120 fathoms long, the leader
being 3 1-2 to 4 inches thick. The
largest web in a Scotch gillnet is but
2 1-2 inches and they are used on the
north and western coast of Scotland,
where the largest herring are usually
caught. The ordinary gillnet should
have a two inch web. A new net must
PORT BENNY LIVING QUARTERS AT IMLACH’S PLANT
be carefully operated and attended to
until it has been used several times.
The top end of the net is lined with
corks, and air buoys are used for float
ing the fleet of nets. The leader rope
is used for sinking the bottom of the
nets. No leads are used on this rope,
as is the case on Alaskan seine nets.
By this method the fish are caught by
the gills and anchored so that they
cannot possibly escape. The net can
1 be hauled immediately the large
schools of herring are caught, the fish
ermen gauging the number of herring
in their nets by the submerging air
buoys.
In referring back to the primitive
methods of the salmon seine web,
where the fish are 20 to 24 hours sub
merged, it is proof that fish caught in
such condition could not possibly be
native cured, but are hard cured for
our Scandinavian trade. I do not in
fer, by this, that the fish for the Scan
dinavian trade are inferior to that for
the Jewish trade, as the procedure in
the! mild and the hard cure is entirely
different in each case.
The Hard Cure Described
The hard cure for Scottish herring
is similar to that of the Norwegian
in salting, but in the gibbing process
in the Norwegian cure a small Cvit is
made in the fish’s throat, which is
bled; wrhile in the Scotch process the
gills and guts are extracted.
In the salteries on Cook’s Inlet,
I found that great room for improve
ment could have been made. There
was no checking of any one person’s
work, faulty brining occurred, no top
tiering was done, leaky barrels wrere
frequent, and incompetent employes
w'ere on the payroll.
Here I say, at this time, the public
was being supplied with a very infe
rior cured herring, chiefly because of
the ignorance of the packer.
Goes to Prince William Sound
In 1920, I went as superintendent
of the Scotch cure for the Franklin
Packing Company, at Port Ashton, on
Sawmill Bay, Prince William Sound.
Captain Thomas was manager for the
company at that time, and he was the
originator of the impounding of her
ring, which I had never seen until
my arrival here. Great credit is due
Captain Thomas for his ability in in
venting this unquestionable boon to
the herring fishing industry. Other
surprising improvements I noticed
included a conveyor for taking the
herring from the boats to the gibbing
tables. The many labor saving ship
ping facilities, the many improve
ments in cooperage, such as staves
ready to be put together to make bar
rels, the windlass, the salt bins;—all
this equipment was above par to that
of the Scotch curing system, and was
an education to me, as with all this
modern equipment we wrere assured
of a first-class pack.
In former years this company had
experienced considerable difficulty in
reaching the proper cure. However,
we found little difficulties here and
there—for instance, the improper in
stallation of the conveyor, the end of
which dipped in the water, the cleats
lifting the water and carrying it along
with the fish. This washed off the
oily coating from the body of the fish,
a coat so necessary in proper curing,
as the salt adheres to this substance.
In gibbing and packing also, the em
ployes in many instances were igno
rant of the proper method essential
to a cure.
However, when we had rectified all
those irregularities, and with the help
of a few experienced Scottish herring
workers had educated the employes,
we were rewarded by a very success
ful season.
Lack of Experienced Help, Packers,
and Brokers
It is understood in any business
that the buyer of an article is out to
get the cheapest and best. t It was
also customary for the packer at this
time to contract his herring at a cer
tain figure per barrel—say $14 to $16,
the fish to be subject to inspection in
Seattle by the buyer. Some packers,
in the early days, when they shipped
their pack to Seattle, were mistaken
when they imagined that the buyer
would accept their goods without en
deavoring to cheapen them by criti
cism, as the buyer was interested in
a reduction in price, his arguments
usually being “slack packing,” “over
or under salting,” “bad selection,”
or “careless gibbing.” The buyer would
then make a reduction of from 50c
to $1 per barrel. The packers and
brokers, being ignorant as to the real
quality of the pack, wrould agree to
the reduction, and would then wire
the packer concerning the complaint,
with a result that the packer would
usually operate or cure according to
instructions from the broker.
We will take, for example, the slack
packing complaint: The packer com
| minces to put up a tighter pack, plac
ing an extra layer of herring in each
barrel, with the result that the fish
were tightly compressed, and became j
| sour during transmission to Seattle, 1
I on account of a lack of circulation of
j brine in such mild-cured fish. As a
period of three weeks would elapse j
I since he received complaint from Se- j
, attle, the packer wrould probably have <
three shipments undergoing the tight
packing treatment, one in Seattle, one
in transit and one ready for shipment,
j I do not maintain that the buyer is
always the misleading party in a deal, :
as in many cases a buyer will advance
money to a packer with the guarantee
that the packer will supply the buyer
wdth a properly cured fish. When j
the buyer receives his goods, they are I
in many instances of a very inferior j
quality.
The Definition of “Feed”
“Feed” is the term used by packers
j and herring fishermen in general in \
describing the condition or state of j
the herring. Particular care must be
given fish which contain feed in their
stomach, as this feed means an undi- j
gested food which will, if not extract-!
ed in the gibbing operations, deterio- !
rate the fish.
Scotch Fishery Board herring ex
perts, on investigation, found that her- |
ring feed on a vegetable matter named
planton, floating from one to tw'O
fathoms under the surface of the sea. ;
A large catch of herring in this con- j
dition should never be loaded on a
fishing boat, on account of the great
pressure of weight, the top portion
of the load softening the fish and
bursting the feed bag or stomach of
the lower portion.
In the gibbing or gutting of a her
ring, one thrust of the gibber’s knife
in the throat, and a pull brings the
gills and all of the intestines through
the small opening or knife cut. Other
duties of gibbing are the selection of
culls from the good herring, much as
|one selects the good from the bad ap
ples or other fruits, when packing.
The gibber selects the “T. B.’s” (re
ferring to fish which are torn, bruis
ed, headless or tailless). These fish,
although partly destroyed, through
discharging, conveying or shoveling,
are fully nutritive, although not ac
cepted by the trade. Soft fish, being
so tender, are very liable to be in the
T. B. class, for when the thrust and
pull of the gibber’s knife is made,
the tender tissues break, the gills
are torn away, and the intestines re
main in the body, the fish having to
be ripped' oi^ cut if they are extracted.
There are two conditions of feed—
the Red and the Black. The latter is
more destructive than the former, it
being almost impossible to pack the
fish thus affected by the Matje Cure.
Thousands of barrels of fish have been
destroyed in Alaska through ignorance
in treating fish thus affected by this
feed.
These; fish may be successfully hard
cured for pickling purposes, if one
knows how, but the best results in
feed fish are obtained if they are im
pounded for a few days until the feed
is digested. The fish will then be in
perfect condition for cure. A packer
should pack feed fish only when im
possible to impound, as the proper
cure entails double work and expense
incidental to the ordinary cure. The
writer) prefers the seine to the gillnet,
as in the former you can impound
your fish, and in the latter you cannot.
Detail Work Neglected
Many a pack of herring is spoiled
through ignorance of small detail, and
thousands of barrels of herring have
been improperly cured by not extract
ing a blood clot from the throat of the
fish, thereby preventing the brine pen
etrating into the bellies of the fish,
as a Matje herring is cured both in
side and out.
A pack will also deteriorate should
a cooper not properly tighten the bar
rel, thereby losing the very essential
brines. A perfect pack of herring can
be made to look imperfect through im
proper shipment. If the barrel is
shipped head up instead of the bottom
up, all the yellow oils extracted from
the fish will float to the head, giving
the white bellies of the fish an un
clean appearance. Should the barrels
be shipped bottom up the oil floats
vice versa, giving the black backs
of the herring a beautiful appearance.
There are many little incidents and
details like this unknown to the aver
age packer, which would help him ex
ceedingly on the road to success, but
they are too numerous to mention in
an article of this length.
The Celebrated Matje Cure
There are several selections of fish
in the celebrated Matje cure—extra
large, large and medium. A herring
must be in first class condition and
be neither too old, drowned, washed,
bruised nor broken. The quantity of
salt and strength of the brine are
great factors in the Matje cure, as the
extra large, large or medium fish re
different salting and percentage of
brine, according to their respective se
lection. Great care is exercised in
the cleaning, selecting and grading, as
the fish differ in quality from day to
day, the catches coming in to the salt
ery from many different schools of
herring. The time allowed in the cure
must also be considered. In neglect
ing the time process the cure may be
too salty, or too mild, too slack or too
tight, which refers to fish being too
tightly or too slackly packed in the
barrels. Correct or proper packing
must be supervised and rigidly enforc
ed. The temperature in which the
fish are cured must be also consider
ed, as a herring cures much quicker
in warm weather than in cold. An
employe could -work in a saltery for
years, and still be unable to discern
the vital points necessary to the Matje
cure.
The Reason Why Many Firms Failed
At the commencement of the 1925
fishing season, Alaska was confront
ed with a serious problem in the form
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A LITTLE RECREATION AFTER WORKING HOURS