Was this just harvesting roe and then turning the herring into bait/cat food? Or am I misunderstanding. Did the roe on kelp fishery even exist at that time?
It seems very few of my friends kept fishing in Alaska as we got older. I suspect that is normal, but a few friends still go up to work summers. Sometimes I wish I had gone up to do it.
Yeah, that is true. The herring that was left after the roe was removed was not in great shape (having soaked in brine so long). Certainly edible by crabs though.
Are you saying sushi roe gets fermented (or cured) while still inside the fish carcass?
For herring, yes. I can't speak to salmon roe.
Salmon roe gets pulled out of the fish as soon as it's off the boat, soaked in brine for about 10 minutes, then packaged for shipping.
Around these parts (Maritimes S.E. Canada) they call herring "herr rn" it helps if you don't open your mouth when you try to say it.
They also have a giant vacuum cleaner type thing four stories tall as loud as two jet airplanes. People casually walk the small village as the "herr rn sucker" deafens everyone.
Herring season was interesting since all the herring roe went, apparently, to Japan. A Japanese inspector would arrive and test the herring that the cannery had stored in large brine vats, stacked around the facility. Only when he said it was "ripe" would we begin processing (separating) the roe from the herring.
The non-egg part of the processing was, I was told, to become crab bait or cat food.