It is crucial that any industrial or commercial fishing crew fully understand the ins and outs of properly cooling and storing fish. There are often complicating factors such as fish size, ice type, environmental conditions, and other aspects that may make fish cooling more challenging. What follows are 10 surprising facts about cooling fish.
1. The Difficulties of Small Fish
Small fish, as compared to medium or large sized fish, have an abundance of surface area and small weight. These factors lead to a propensity for spoiling because the meat lacks natural insulation, unlike larger, thicker fish. Conversely, these small swimmers cool very quickly and evenly, which is convenient for fishermen.
2. Pros and Cons of Cooling Large Fish
Large fish require a little extra consideration before cooling. Unlike smaller species, these large swimmers have denser bodies and extra layers of fat between their meet and skin. As a result, these fish have slower cooling times. However, the surface area to meat ratio is much smaller, giving it an advantage in the preservation game.
3. Medium Sized Fish Are Just Right
Medium sized specimens have the advantages of both large and small fish, making them almost ideal for transport. Like their larger counterparts, these fish hold temperatures easily and are naturally protected against spoilage. As with smaller species, medium swimmers cool evenly and fairly rapidly.
4. Planning Factors for fish cooling
Before embarking on a fishing expedition, fisherman must account for:
- Estimated size of catch
- External conditions
- Size of fish
- Type of ice needed
- Trip length
Climate conditions in particular are important to consider as this affects the starting temperature of the fish.
5. Perfect Time, Perfect Temperature
During an immersion process, shrimp are frozen to preserve freshness and ease the transportation route. To prevent any damage, the crustacean is frozen for no more than 10 to 15 minutes and afterwards, should be kept at -30 degrees Celsius. For increased water retention, some shrimp companies will freeze the product within an ice block.
6. Methods for Rapid Cooling Large Fish
Cooling large fish comes with a unique set of challenges, which means there are just two commonly used methods for rapid cooling big catches. Large commercial vessels and smaller fishing enterprises use chilled seawater and flake ice to decrease temperatures within the safe preservation time window.
7. Adjusting for Thermal Loss with fish cooling
A properly planned fishing expedition will account for both ice needed cool the fish and melting due to thermal loss. In the freezers and cooling areas, all the ice’s cooling potential cannot be transmitted into the cargo. Instead, some simply melts in accordance with external temperatures. As this happens, fishermen must replace what is lost to maintain the transport temperature.
8. New Live Transport Methods
Transporting live shrimp isn’t incredibly common, but it is growing in popularity because of high profit yields. However, live transport typically requires heavy and expensive water tanks, severely increasing overhead costs. New studies indicate live shrimp can be cooled to 15 degrees Celsius, transported without water and then re-acclimated upon arrival.
9. Ice Cooling
Cooling with ice in addition to using chilled seawater are highly popular cooling methods in commercial enterprises. Ice is extremely efficient because it is both versatile and cost effective. Generally, it’s considered convenient and also increases the cargo’s moisture retention. For maximum effectiveness, the ice should be crushed to better surround the fish.
10. Using Chilled Seawater for fish cooling
Like ice, chilled seawater is high convenient. It’s readily available during fishing expeditions, making it especially cost effective. Additionally, it thoroughly surrounds the fish and completely permeates the specimen for cooling.
SEMCO/SEMCOLD LLC knows how important cooling is to fishing enterprises and we are dedicated to offering highly effective storage and cooling systems. We customize our systems to your needs so you can meet your capacity demands as well as any other important or unique specifications.