are studied. Samples used for the test 

 are obtained from regular commercial 

 production or are specially prepared 

 at the laboratory. Quality changes are 

 determined at regular intervals by 

 examining the frozen product for de- 

 hydration and color change, by serving 

 cooked samples to a taste panel, and by 

 chemical and physical tests for such 

 factors as rancidity and texture change. 



During the past year, frozen storage 

 studies were completed on (1) haddock 

 fillet blocks packaged with a variety of 

 materials, (2) fish sticks prepared from 

 these fillet blocks at intervals of frozen 

 storage, (3) pink shrimp, commercially 

 packed using four different methods of 

 preparation, and (4) haddock fillets, 

 dipped in various corn-syrup solutions 

 before packaging and freezing. Now in 

 progress are studies on commiercially 

 packed samples of frozen fried tuna 

 sticks, breaded ocean-perch portions, 

 breaded pollock portions, bay scallops, 

 and pollock fillets. Special tests to de- 

 fine the quality of frozen fish were also 

 conducted in cooperation with the Na- 

 tional Fisheries Institute. Commercial 

 samples of frozen haddock and ocean- 

 perch fillets stored at three different 

 temperatures for 9 months, were sub- 

 jected to a variety of conditions to 

 simulate commercial storage, distrib- 

 ution, and handling practices. 



Tests, both completed and in prog- 

 ress, show that the frozen- storage 

 life of fishery products can be extended 

 by any one or a combination of the fol- 

 lowing factors: Storage temperature of 

 0° F. or lower, relative humidity in 

 the storage roonn of 85 percent o" 

 higher, and packaging materials which 

 allow less than 1 percent weight loss 

 in a year of storage. Future studies 

 are designed to determine, as exactly 

 as possible, the extension of frozen- 

 storage life that can be expected for 

 a number of products using the various 

 combinations of factors given above. 



Another avenue of preservation re- 

 search is concerned with the freezing 

 of fish aboard the vessel. This tech- 

 nique offers promise as a means of 

 landing unifornrvly high-quality fish--as 

 compared with the very variable quality 

 resulting from conventional iced stor- 



Figure 6.--The experimental refrigerated sea-water tank, 



age, increasing utilization of vessel 

 hold space, and leveling out production 

 at the shore plant. Results of studies 

 of brine-freezing of fish conducted in 

 the past year show that the frozen- 

 storage life of fillets prepared from 

 both round and eviscerated brine - 

 frozen haddock compared favorably 

 with that of fillets prepared from very 

 fresh iced fish. Freezing scallop meats 

 at sea in a solution of corn-syrup 

 solids and salt was not successful 

 and did not produce a satisfactory 

 product. The meats become very yellow 

 and rancid during subsequent frozen 

 storage. Brine-freezing of scallop 

 meats also was unsatisfactory, result- 

 ing in excessive salt penetration into 

 the product. Scallop meats frozen at 

 sea in the refrigerated hold of the 

 vessel, however, proved to be of slightly 

 better quality than very fresh iced 

 scallops frozen ashore innmediately 

 after being landed. 



Preservation studies are in progress 

 on the storage of fish in refrigerated 

 sea water kept at 30° F. aboard the 

 vessel and at the shore plant, and show 

 considerable promise as a means of 

 improving the quality of fish- -as com- 

 pared with storage in ice at 32° F.-- 

 and in reducing handling costs. 



Other work in this project includes 

 tests to determine the suitability of 



