Story last updated at 6/17/2010 - 5:45 pm
Canned halibut has never been accepted by consumers. Attempts were made to preserve halibut in a can several times over the past 132 years.
Canning of halibut first took place at Klawock, in one of the first two salmon canneries in Alaska (Old Sitka is the other, started in 1878). The North Pacific Packing and Trading Company of San Francisco, in its inaugural year, packed both salmon and halibut in cans. The company was not sure about the success of canning halibut or of consumer acceptance, so it packed only 200 to 300 cases of two-pound cans. The Treasury agent for Alaska, Wm. Gouveneur Morris, wrote in his extensive report in 1878 that it was of "superior quality, preserving the flavor better than any yet produced from any other locality." Canned halibut, however, was abandoned after a few seasons at Klawock. Later "authorities" didn't agree with this assessment. One of the problems with putting halibut in the can is the amount of water in the flesh. The water has to be taken out and replaced with oil to keep it moist. Others problems were the short shelf-life that produced an undesirable gray or brown color, dryness, and above all strange flavors!
However in 1905, processors tried again to find a winning formula. J. F. Smith of Petersburg packed 100 cases that were sold in several Seattle stores. It was said to have sold well, but no further mention of Smith's operations were found. Nor is there more about Juneau Packing Company's 36 one-pound cans packed and "received with good reviews" that same year.
Pacific Cold Storage at Taku Harbor packed 100 cases in 1905. The contents were reported to be too soft. It was thought that perhaps halibut didn't need to be cooked as long as salmon. Salmon needed the bones to soften, and halibut - with no bones - didn't. With a cold storage and glacier ice, Pacific Cold Storage did not waste any more time, money, or fish on canning halibut.
There seems to have been no attempts from that time until World War II when experimentation with canning halibut renewed. Protein for the troops, in cans, was of a high priority and if halibut could be used, it would add to patriotic needs. Libby, McNeil and Libby at its Taku Harbor cannery experimented with a new process in 1943. Seventeen tons of halibut were purchased and frozen. In 1944, it used a method known as the patented Borg process. The water content of the flesh was reduced with a centrifuge before the fish was canned. In 1945, a steam process replaced this, saving the cost of paying for use of the patented method. It was reported that the recovery rate for each 100 pounds of dressed halibut, was one case of one-half pound cans. It sounds to me as if would be "mush" instead of firm chunks.
Another processor to experiment during World War II was Salt Sea at Tenakee. In 1945, 200 cases were packed with pre-smoked halibut. This may have continued at about that level of production for a couple more years. No report was found if the product pleased the consumers' palates.
It was not until the 1960s when another attempt on a large commercial basis was tried. Halibut Producers Cooperative at Seward packed a few hundred cases under the "White Wave" label.
In all those years, consumers had the same reaction to canned halibut. There were better canned fish products to buy! Its white meat and bland flavor lacked consumer appeal. Albacore tuna was the canned white fish of choice. Today halibut is marketed fresh or fresh-frozen, a much more acceptable consumer product.
Home canning of halibut was experimented with during the early 1950s at the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Fishery Products Laboratory in Ketchikan. Pamphlets published at the time were distributed free. For halibut, pre-cooking in the can removes excess moisture from the fish and improves the texture, it reported. The addition of vegetable oil, similar to tuna packed in oil, was suggested unless a low fat content was desired. It was said the product was excellent for salads, creamed fish dishes and sandwich spreads.
Will new technology ever produce acceptable canned halibut?
