REFRIGERATION AND FREEZING OF FISH 



341 



which they are washed to remove slime, blood, and ice. If the fish are being re- 

 ceived faster than they can be filleted, they are removed from the tank by an 

 automatic conveyor and packed in crushed ice in hinged boxes, each of which 

 holds about 600 pounds of fish. These large boxes of fish are trucked to a room, 

 maintained just above freezing, where they are held until needed for filleting. 



As soon as the fish can be filleted, the boxes are emptied into the hopper of a 

 scaling machine in which the scales are removed and the fish washed with sea 

 water. From the scaler the fish pass through washing tanks and thence to a 

 rubber belt conveyor to the workers who cut a fillet from each of the two sides of 

 the fish, remove any large bones from the fillets, and put them in corrosion- 

 resistant pans. In some plants filleting machines are used. 



Skinning. A large proportion of the fillets are skinned prior to packaging. In the 

 smaller plants and also in many large plants the skinning is done by hand by the 

 men who do the filleting. To skin a fillet the operator places it skin side down on 



(.Courtesy Atlantic Coast Fisheries Co.) 

 Fig. 16-4. Feeding haddock into Atlantic Coast filleting machine. 



a table, grasps the skin of the tail end with his fingers, and cuts crosswise through 

 the thin flesh (but not through the skin). Holding his knife almost horizontal, 

 he then pulls the skin and cuts the fillet off of the skin. 



Many different types of skinning machines have been tried, but until recently 

 none has proved to be entirely satisfactory. The Jensen "Speedi-skinner," which 

 was introduced in 1947, is now in use in several Pacific Coast filleting plants 

 (Fig. 16-5). This skinning machine is a compact, self-contained unit, designed to 

 serve as part of a belt-filleting line. The fish fillets are placed skin side down on 

 the moving feed belt of this machine and move rapidly over a sharp, power-driven 

 band knife. A second belt is placed so as to apply even pressure to the fillet and 



