In view of the dynamic action of the enzymes 

 in skipjack even for long periods of time post- 

 mortem, the difference between rested and 

 stressed fish may indeed be only academic. In 

 relation to commercial practice, this is certainly 

 true. The lack of definite and repeatable corre- 

 lation between biochemical parameters, treat- 

 ment, and quality suggests that the chemical 

 steady state of the live fish has not yet reached 

 an equilibrium, at least under the conditions 

 of time and temperature used in this experi- 

 ment. A better correlation between biochemi- 

 cal parameters and quality might be achieved 

 if fish are stored for longer periods of time. 

 This is certainly true of the correlation between 

 IMP and the overall quality of commercial 

 packs of tuna (Crawford, unpublished). But 

 then again, the question of the control of qual- 

 ity (and perhaps improvement of quality as 

 well) by pretreatment and temperature control 

 remains elusive. Since the author has wit- 

 nessed far better quality of skipjack from com- 

 mercial practice which had been stored for 

 longer periods of time, it may be that good, 

 longer term storage may be beneficial to quality 

 in some instances. Perhaps the differences in 

 quaJity of commercial packs result from longer 

 periods of time and/or higher temperatures 

 than those in this experiment. Or maybe the 

 see-sawing of temperatures which takes place 

 in a brine well when fresh-caught fish is added 

 to previously chilled fish, contributes to freez- 

 ing and thawing of fish which may have adverse 

 effects upon the quality. 



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