MFR PAPER 1038

Inexpensive plastic containers stacked nine high keep fish in good condition aboard ship .

Effect of Draining Method on the Quality of Fish Stored in Boxes

JOHN A. PETERS, ALLAN F. BEZANSON, and JOHN H. GREEN

ABSTRACT

To delerlilille IJlpecial/y comlrllcled ./i.llt ho.\£' 1 lI,lth It dmill lite /IIe/III 'llfer ro

lite olllside of lite ho.\ are reqllired 10 prOll'( I lite iillt ill lite 1011'1'1' layel'l .fi'01il

COlIll/lllilll/lioll hy drailla~e .fi'01il lite IIpper layen are lIece.IIlII'Y jl)r IlIcce~:,jit!

h(l.\ill~ al \e({, Iria/l I\'ere (olldll( ,ed ill lite Celller Il\ill~ readily lII 'ailahle pl({~Iic

role ho.\e.l.

R eSII!r.1 of 1l/.lIe pailI'I alld IIlic rohwlogical 11'111 Oil Iwddoc/.. Ilored lI 'illt he

ill Iltese hO.\e.1 .Iltoll'ed 110 ligllijicalll dU(erell( l' ill qllalily helll 1'1'11 /7 lit FOIII lite

upper ({llllfrolil Ihe lei II er hoxe.l.

Tlterejllre, iillt call he hoxed llf .Iell lIIillg ille.\pelllil 'e cOllwilla.1 rallta II/lIII

e.\pellsil 'l', .lpeci({l/.\ COII.I I rII( ,ed .lillt ho.\ 1'\.

INTRODUCTION

It has long been kno\\ n that bulk to~age of fish in pens hasten qualit]

los th rough crushi ng and bru isi ng of the fish. Also, bulk to~age cau e weight los es of up to 7 percent in cod and up to 15 percent in haddock at the bottom of a 3-foot deep pen (Burges, et a l ., 1965).

Boxing of fish ha~ been a fairl] com­mon practice on inshore ves~els in many countries (Anonymous, 1970, p. 13), but until recently it has not been practiced o n vesseb fishing the more di tant grounds. However, since 1965 when ucces ful trials were conducted by the White Fish Authority aboard the Aberdeen, Scotland, vessel, M. T. Sl/IlIlI1erl'llie. a nd in ubsequent trials aboard other ve se ls in which it was found that boxing fish extended the storage life by 11/2 to 3 days. resulted in a we ight gain of about 5

percent as opposed to the losses cited abo\e, and an increased fillet ]ield of about 5 percent (Anonymous. 1965, 1967a. 1967b). the adoption of bo:--­ing at sea has spread and is now becoming almost common practice In

th e United KIngdom. In the nited States. however,

boxi ng at sea has not been adopted on the larger vessel . One of the reasons given is the cost of the special boxes specified by the Torry Research Sta­tion and the White Fish Authority, where an important requirement is that when the boxes are stacked. the water from the melting ice drains to th e outside and does not pass through th e lower layers of boxes and thus contami nate the lower fish with bac­teria-laden slime (Anonymous. 1965 and Hopper, 1970).

But if the meltwater does not in fact hasten spoi lage of the lower layers of fish, it would then be possible to

33

John A. Peters is Acting Deputy Center Director, Atlantic Fish­ery Products Technology Center, National Marine Fisheries Ser­vice, NOAA, Gloucester, MA 01930; the present address of Allan F. Bezanson is Raytheon Company, Foundry Ave., Waltham, MA 02154; John H. Green is a research micro­biologist, College Park Fishery Products Technology Labora­tory, National Marine Fisheries Service, NOAA, College Park, MD 20741.

use Inexpensive, readily available, plastic nest and stack tote-boxes or non-returnable wooden wire-bound boxes uch as are commonly used in shipping poultry. produce . etc. T o ettle th i poi nl. a test series was set

up to determine the effect on quality of stowing fish and ice in plastic boxes stacked so the meltwater from th e upper layers percolated down throu gh the lo~er layers .

Results of a similar test have bee n reported b] Houwing (1971): ho\\ever. in hIs tests, the boxes were stacked fou r high compared with the stacks of nine boxes used in the tests reported here.

PROCEDURES

PolJethylene tote-boxes ~ith a capacity of about 50 pounds of fish and 25 pounds of ice were u ed in these tests. After having been filled with eviscerated haddock (Figure I) and Aake ice. the boxes were stacked nine high in a cool room at 37 f (Figure 2) . Control samples were pre­chilled fish . put in rectangular tins (Figure 3), covered. buried in ice, and held in the same storage room. Duplicate tests using the same pro­cedures were conducted.

At intervals duri ng the storage period. two fish were removed from the top, middle. and bottom tote-boxes and from the control tins and tested for total bacterial count and organolep­tic acceptability.

For the total plate counts. a steri le 202 X 309 can. open a t both ends, was

Figure 1.-Haddock packed with ice on plastic tote bOl

Figure 2.-Tote boxes containing fish and ice stacked in cool room .

helJ lightl~ <lg .. lln t th~ IJ~ ,)1 the haJJoch .1u~t p,l,ten,lr t,l the hl<lch pot <lnJ 100 m I ,1f ,tenic Jtluent

poureJ Into the can \ tenle gla pipe!!\.: \\a, u,~J t,l ,crape .. tnJ lilt the ,cale, In the area urrl unJeJ b)

the can. '1 hi' wa, lollo",eJ h} rapiJ ,tirnng to en,ure complete mixing of the ,lime. de .. \\ith the Jlluent. one I1ldltlltel ailljuot ot thl\ ml ture ",a, tahen. aprrornate JdUlion, made and rlateJ In Jurllcate r he rlate, ",ere InL:uhateJ .It 2() tor 'i Jay" the colonie, e(lunt 'J. the re,ulh trom the t\\n lI,h a\eraged. anJ rerortcJ a, numher, nt hactena per 5 ,quare Inche, pt 11 h ,urtaee,

lolr the organOlieptlc a"e ,men!. the li,h u,eJ tor Jeterml nl ng tLltal pi,l!C ellunt \\ere filieteu. ,J.;lI1neu. cut Intll piece. anu ,!CameJ 111 a tlghtl) col\ereJ pan. 1 he enter 12-memher ta te ranel rateu the thh

0'11 .I lJ-P,)lI1t cale tor appearance. "Uor. tld\('r. anu te ture.

RE SULTS

1 hL re ult ,I the Wtal plate e,lunt are ,ho\\ n 111 T able I ,I tatl lIeall) 'Ignltjeant uilfcrence\ In lunt a ueterml neu b) .Inal) I l f \ an ance are t,lunJ that Lan he relateJ to po It" n ,It the ti h In the tach ,It hll e .

'r he ta t~ panel c,)re are ho\\ n In fahle 2. Here again. there are nLl

Figure 3.-Control samples packed on 30·pound sIZe cans .

34

stati stica ll y significa nt di ffe rences rela ted to loca ti o n in th e stack of boxes .

CONCLUSIONS

For box ing fis h at sea , inexpensive. readil y ava ilable nest and stack tote­boxes whi c h pe rmit dra inage of th e melting ice d own through th e stack of boxes may be u ed w ith out det r ime nt to th e qua lity of the fis h . Thi s fac t cl ea rs th e wa y fo r adopti o n of thi s technique by th ose vesse l owne rs w ho have hes it a ted to make th e in ves tment in specia ll y des igned boxes o f com­para ti ve ly h igh cost.

The be nefi ts w ill be imp roved qu a li ty of th e fis h a landed and in­c rea ed yields in th e process in g plant.

LITERATURE CITED

An onymous. 1965. Boxing fi sh a t sea in midd le a nd dista nt water tr awlers. Whit e Fish Auth orit y, Res . Dev. Bu ll . o. 9, 7 p. 1967a. A progres re port o n tri a ls of box­ing at sea . White Fish Authori ty. 1967b. Boxing at sea: W.F .A . repo rt gives deta il s of be nefit s. World Fi sh . 16(4):44-45.

Table 1. - Total plate counts o' 'ish stored in boxes.

Logarith ms of Numbers of Bacteria per 3 1/2 Square Inches

Days on Ice Control Top Box Middle Box Bottom Box

Test Test Test Test Test Test Tesl Test Test Test No 1 No 2 No 1 No 2 No . 1 No 2 No t No 2 No 1 No 2

0 0 5934 6.672 5.934 6672 5.934 6.672 5934 6.672 2 6.029 58 16 5878 5914

6 6.934 5860 7037 7011 7 6866 7924 7.585 7.525

8 7.963 7925 8818 7.863 9 7 .8 13 8 .690 7.778 8 .816

12 12 9802 9258 9602 9034 9.468 10 .207 8288 8620

Table 2.-Taste panel sco res on 'ish sto red in bo xes.

Taste Panel Scores I

Days on Ice Control Top Box MIddle Box Bottom Box

Tes t Test Test T est Test No 1 No 2 No 1 No .2 No . 1

1 8 .75 3 3 738 6 .75 775 6 6 .32

7 13 697 8 680

9 6 .00 6.35 10 5.14 13 13 442 428 495

Test Test No .2 No 1

8.75 7 10 705 638

7 19 690

6 .30 4 63 4 93 606

Test No.2

875 768 6 .87

400

6.35 300

Test No 1

607

7.40

6.95

6 40

Test No .2

8.75 6.68 6.93

6.07

6.06 437

I Based on a 9-polnt scale where 9 = Excellent. 8 = Very Good , 7 Ilne , 4 = SlIghtly Poor, 3 = Poor, 2 = Very Poor , and 1 = Inedible

Good, 6 = Fair . 5 Border-

1970. Packages and packaging mate ria l for fi sh . Orga niza tio n fo r Economic Co­o pera tio n and Development, Par is, p. 14.

Bu rgess, G. H. 0., C. L. C utting, J. A. Lovern , a nd J . J . Waterman. 1965 . Fish handling and process in g, p. ll . Her Ma­j esty's ta ti o nery Office, Edinburgh.

Hopper, A. G 1970. Improved handlIng 01 wet fish: Boxing at sea. III Fishing ports and markets, p. 244-247. Fishing ews (Books) Ltd., Lond.

Hou" ing. H . 1971. De afvoer van smeltwater Ult vlskisten. Vis;erij 24:442-443. 1972. Abst ract. WId. Fish. Abstr. 23(3):33.

MFR Paper 1038 . From Mari ne Fisheri es Review, Vol . 36, No. 2, February 1974. Copies of this paper, in limited numbers, are avai lable from 0 83, Technical Inform ation Division , Envi ronmental Science Information Center, NOAA , Wash ington , DC 20235.

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