APPENDIX III APPENDIX III 
The finfish species available for development vary not 
only in size and shape but also in holding quality. Some 
species cannot be held sufficiently long on ice to allow for 
a reasonable length fishing trip. 
A 1974 cooperative industry-Government Alaska groundfish 
research program provided a good example of some of the 
differences in handling and processing finfish compared to 
shellfish. Pollock, the most abundant species available in 
all areas fished, was found to have rather poor storage 
quality regardless of the method of holding. Pollock must be 
handled very carefully and must be thoroughly chilled rapidly 
after it is landed. Research is needed to develop simple, ef- 
fective alternates to icing so that the quality of pollock 
landed is maintained and the labor required for handling the 
fish aboard the vessel is minimized. 
The plants where fish were landed were designed for pro- 
cessing other fishery products and were not capable of hand- 
ling groundfish without major facility conversion. Even 
freezing of whole fish, both individually and in blocks, was 
difficult. Brine freezing equipment designed for freezing 
crabs was inadequate for freezing whole fish because of the 
tendency for fish to pack tightly together, resulting ina 
thick mass that required several hours to freeze through. The 
shelf and plate freezers commonly used for halibut, salmon, 
and crab or shrimp products were not suitable for freezing 
individual fish or fillets because of the labor involved in 
loading and unloading. 
In summary, several areas have the basic processing plant 
physical facilities but could not process trawl-caught fin- 
fish without major plant conversions. At present, the type of 
processing best suited to the resources and markets is un- 
known. 
Industry is working with the U.S. Government and foreign 
governments in order to develop agreements for cooperative 
fishing ventures whereby U.S. fishermen would catch fish for 
foreign processing. An industry official told us that Poland 
wants an agreement from our Government that we will supply 
certain amounts of fish to them on contract. This is difficult 
because of the nature of the U.S. fishing industry. For 
instance, if crab prices go up, our fishermen will move into 
this fishery. This makes it difficult to reach such agree- 
ments without developing some industry/Government agreements. 
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