When fish are dressed at the processing site for salting, you might need a wooden table like the one shown in this picture. Simple wood plate will be OK. You can use the dressing table if it is not used then. In any case, you got your fish dressed G&G, or head on and guts out. Now, let us start salting them. Usually, it is better to have a separate table for salting operation, because it should not be wet with running water, and also because salting is usually done right after dressing in any case.

First, scoop a handful of salt and rub it into the fish by moving from tail to head so that salt will reach the skin between the scales. If you do this from head to tail, most salt will be lost because it will not go under the scales. This is very important.

Then, put enough salt into the cavity from where the gills ware removed. You can lift the gill cover to do the salting as shown in this picture. Make it sure it has enough salt that the cavity in more than half full.

Then, open the belly and fill the cavity with enough salt so that the fish looks like it still has guts in it. This is the final stage of salting the fish itself. And then, you carefully lift the salted fish and place them in one layer in the wooden salting bin (box) large enough to keep most of the catch for a few days.

Here is what this fish bin for storing salted fish should look like. It should be built on the floor of the processing room and should allow the salty water to drain out of the bin through the wood plate bottom. You should have a layer (about 5 cm) of salt at the bottom first, and then start laying the salted fish in a single layer. And when salted fish fill full one layer, you should have a layer of salt (about 3 cm) before you start working on the next layer. This is shown in the illustration, and you can click this sign to see it in an expanded easy-to-see size.

This completes the entire processing process using salt as the preservative. Depending on the room temperature of your processing site, it will take from 2 to 4 days before the fish are salted just right. The most ideal way to keep the salted fish is to take the fish out of the bin, shake off the excess salt (not salt in the body cavities), vacuum-pack them individually, and then store them in a low temperature room. You said you have no cold storage room in Agzu. But, I highly recommend that you make arrangement with the families in Agzu who have refrigerators to make room to store these fish until the ecotourists will leave for Khabarovsk at the end of the tour. You don't have to freeze the salted fish. Just keep them at low temperature around the freezing temperature. I know this will do a great deal of good to the fish, and therefore, good business outlook for the 2001 season. Let us discuss this point more as soon as possible. I need to know what the temperature range might be through the second half of June in Agzu. It will be worthwhile for you to spend some time and money to discuss this with us in the first half of June so that we can work out something about this.