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Story: Fishing industry

Fishing-curing establishment

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Fishing-curing establishment

This small fishing settlement at Careys Bay in Otago Harbour shows cottages and families clustered around the shore. In the 1880s, before refrigeration, fish was smoked or canned to preserve it for transport to market. In the late 19th century a number of fish-curing operations in Otago Harbour, like the one pictured here, supplied the domestic and Australian markets with smoked ling, moki, blue cod and red cod.

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Alexander Turnbull Library

Reference: 1/1-002573; G

Permission of the Alexander Turnbull Library, National Library of New Zealand, Te Puna Mātauranga o Aotearoa, must be obtained before any re-use of this image.

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How to cite this page

Carl Walrond, Fishing industry – A cottage industry, Te Ara – the Encyclopedia of New Zealand, https://teara.govt.nz/en/photograph/6272/fishing-curing-establishment (accessed 10 June 2026).

Story by Carl Walrond, published 2 March 2009.