A new processing system from 3X Technology of Iceland has been installed onboard the Icelandic longliner Tjaldur SH. In operation since January 2010, the equipment is designed for processing line-caught fish – Tjaldur catches whitefish species, mainly cod – and ensures that all the fish brought onboard receive correct and equal treatment when passing through the system.
To this end screw tanks ensure that the fish that enter the system first are also the first to leave it.
All the fish are cut in the throat as soon as the lines come onboard the vessel and enter the processing deck. They are then put into a screw bleeding tank where the time has been preset to ensure that the fish are properly bled before entering the gutting tables.
Proper and correct bleeding is the most important factor to ensure that the fish flesh is not discoloured, according to 3X Technology. Also to this end, the sea water entering the bleeding tank is regularly changed.
The fish are cooled down as soon as they have been gutted; cooling has a decisive influence on the final quality of the fish. The cooling screw tank is connected to a slurry ice system and the inflow of the ice is determined by regular temperature measurements in the tank.
The chilling tank also comes with a control cabinet so the time the fish spend in the tank can be preset according to the requirements for different species.
Onboard Tjaldur, it is possible to hold up to 3,500kg of fish in the cooling tank.
The overall processing line, which has a maximum capacity of 1,500kg of fish per hour, includes transportation conveyors, bycatch buffers and gutting stations. Everything is supplied by 3X Tecnology: “We provide total onboard processing solutions,” said Páll Kristjánsson, marketing manager.
The bycatch buffers are used to store species other than cod, such as haddock, until there is space for them in the cooling tank. The buffers can also be supplied with slurry ice.
According to KG Fiskverkun, the company which owns Tjaldur, the new 3X Technology processing line provides markedly better fish for its land-based factory than its previous onboard line.
"We can see in our land processing factory that the colour of the flesh is better than before and we can control the temperature of the fish going into the factory,“ a spokesman said. “Also, the working circumstances on board the vessel have improved significantly,” he added.
Fish does not start to lose its freshness until rigor mortis has ended, Kristjánsson said. “Therefore it is of the outmost importance to delay the start of the rigor process and equally important to prolong that process for as long as possible.
“This is what our onboard processing systems are designed to achieve.”
3X Technology onboard processing systems can be tailor-made to suit the requirements of vessels other than longliners and have been installed on trawlers, for example.
“3X has already installed systems on nine different boats ranging from 15 metres up to 60 metres long, with capacities ranging from one to seven tonnes per hour. Our systems suit every type of vessel,” said Kristjánsson.
