The Fisheries and Fishery Industries of the United States George Brown Goode, United States Bureau of Fisheries, 1887
History and Methods of the Fisheries pp. 689-90

UTlLIZATION.- Alewives are used as bait for deep-sea fisheries to a small extent, but by far the greater part are used as food for man. The prevailing methods of curing, are, first to salt and smoke them, second, to pickle and afterwards pack them in barrels. The former method is generally regarded as more profitable for fishermen who are able to retail the products of their fisheries, and is therefore most employed by them, each man having a little smoke- house of his own. Where great quantities are taken by one party, as by the lessees of the Damariscotta fisheries, they are barreled and sent to the wholesale markets. On the Kennebec, about seven-eighths of the alewives caught are smoked and consumed locally, and smoking has been the prevalent mode of curing for many years. On the Penobscot, at Bucksport, previous to 1830, the most of the alewives were pickled, but the practice of smoking came into general use shortly after that date and has for many years entirely supplanted pickling.

For smoking, alewives are first prepared by salting lightly in a large tub, without scaling or any other dressing; they are treated with about 5 quarts of salt to a barrel of fish. Some add 2 ounces of saltpeter. In three days the fish are sufficiently “struck,” and they are then, after rinsing in clean water, impaled on straight sticks of split cedar or spruce, which are thrust through the gills, ten on a stick (formerly twelve), and hung up in the smoke- house.   On the ground beneath them a fire is made, generally of hard wood and smothered with saw-dust. After four to six days in the smoke-house, during which they may be actually exposed to smoke less than half the time, they are ready for sale. This is an outline of the practice of a Kennebec fisherman.   The practice of individuals varies not a little, and the finished product is of many grades of excellence or inferiority. They are most palatable when lightly salted and smoked, but in that condition cannot be kept long.   Selling at 40 to 80 cents per 100 and retailing at a cent apiece, they form a cheap and toothsome article of food, much sought for in all parts of the state.

For barreling, alewives are ” struck ” with 11/2 bushels of salt to the barrel, without dressing or scaling, and after lying from fou r to six -days they are packed closely in barrels with half a bushel or more of new salt per barrel, and filled up wit h sweet and strong pickle.   Alewives keep better in pickle than other fish, and are therefore exceptionally well fitted for exportation to warm climates. Great quantities of’ them are exported to the West Indies and other warm countries. The practice of packing them without pickle has prevailed at times i n some localities.