Processing the Fish
On unloading the fish, they are put into boxes (8 boxes to one cran) with ice on top. The fish are then sent to be:
Kippered
The fish are sent in barrels to a fish yard where women get them. The fish are washed, pickled and hung on hooks in a kiln to be dry smoked with oak-chip-fires, damped down with sawdust. They are then packed in boxes weighing fourteen pounds.
Bloatered
Bloatering is another smoking process. Yarmouth is most famous for its bloaters. The fish are not split open as in the case of a kipper.
Curing
By far the most herings go to this process. As the fishermen empty their baskets into the kits, a man sprays salt all over them. Then the gut is removed by the "girls"and the fish are graded according to size, by flinging in to barrels. These are emptied and packed in larger barrels holding half a cran each. When the barrel is full, pickle is added (salt and water) through a bung hole. When there is a glut i.e. when too many fish have been landed, surplus fish are sent to a factory to be turned into fishmeal, manure and fertilizers.
Kippered
The fish are sent in barrels to a fish yard where women get them. The fish are washed, pickled and hung on hooks in a kiln to be dry smoked with oak-chip-fires, damped down with sawdust. They are then packed in boxes weighing fourteen pounds.
Bloatered
Bloatering is another smoking process. Yarmouth is most famous for its bloaters. The fish are not split open as in the case of a kipper.
Curing
By far the most herings go to this process. As the fishermen empty their baskets into the kits, a man sprays salt all over them. Then the gut is removed by the "girls"and the fish are graded according to size, by flinging in to barrels. These are emptied and packed in larger barrels holding half a cran each. When the barrel is full, pickle is added (salt and water) through a bung hole. When there is a glut i.e. when too many fish have been landed, surplus fish are sent to a factory to be turned into fishmeal, manure and fertilizers.
Industries connected with Fishing
When considered, really, there are many industries connected with fishing. For instance, to make a box to contain bloaters, requires a block of wood, then the labour in cutting the wood to a certain thickness, then nailing it(without the lid) all ready to put the fish in. Most of the box-making, at least for fish, is done at the port, where the fish are brought in. Jewson is the main box-making firm at Yarmouth, but the fish shops sometimes make their own.
The ship building done at Lowestoft is the hardest job, because it needs more men to build a ship than it does to make a box. To preserve the fish they are salted and placed in ice. Years ago ice was brought from the Norfolk Broads in Winter, but now it has to be made; so on board (or in port) there must be refrigerated fish-holds.
Net making is done by women called "beatsters". When the fish are tinned or canned it is done by either Morton or C.W.S. firms.
When considered, really, there are many industries connected with fishing. For instance, to make a box to contain bloaters, requires a block of wood, then the labour in cutting the wood to a certain thickness, then nailing it(without the lid) all ready to put the fish in. Most of the box-making, at least for fish, is done at the port, where the fish are brought in. Jewson is the main box-making firm at Yarmouth, but the fish shops sometimes make their own.
The ship building done at Lowestoft is the hardest job, because it needs more men to build a ship than it does to make a box. To preserve the fish they are salted and placed in ice. Years ago ice was brought from the Norfolk Broads in Winter, but now it has to be made; so on board (or in port) there must be refrigerated fish-holds.
Net making is done by women called "beatsters". When the fish are tinned or canned it is done by either Morton or C.W.S. firms.
