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Cod and the coast |
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The Coast was ideal for operations as the quality of the fish was balanced by the weather. The process of drying the cod required the right amount of sun and wind, and not too much rain. The process involved division of labour.
Cod yarns
Skinned cod hung to dry
© Geraint Jennings |
According to an account written in the 1830s some men were employed to catch the cod, others carried fish to the processing site, where others cut off the heads (the tongues were preserved as a delicacy to be sent back for consumption in Jersey), and still others gutted the fish, and further employees carried out the salting process. The cod were then carried to be laid on open-air racks for drying.
The whole process was overseen by a "maître-de-grave" (beach-master) who judged precisely how long the fish needed to be left in the salt, how long it should be aired until perfectly dry-cured, and took charge of the daily turning of the drying cod. One of his most responsible tasks was to organise the covering of the fish at the first sign of rain. In warm dry weather, with consistent wind, the cod would dry in seven to 10 days.
According to an account of 19th Century life written in Jèrriais in the 1920s, it was the ambition of any young Jersey lad who did well at school to find a position as clerk on the Coast for any of the companies such as Robin or Collas, Le Boutillier or Frouing.
Words: Geraint Jennings
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