Fish processing equipment. (Photo: ARVI)

Propesca advances in fish processing innovation

SPAIN
Tuesday, May 30, 2017, 01:20 (GMT + 9)

Fisheries and marketing companies, naval technological auxiliaries and research organizations have been involved since 2015 in a project whose main objectives are to find ways to preserve the quality of fishery products captured through improvements in the handling processes.

This project -- Technology Development for New Fishing Product Processes (Propesca) -- is funded by the Centre for Industrial Technological Development (CDTI) of the Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness and by the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF).

This initiative is carried out in four main activities: innovation in the automatic squid classification system for freezer trawlers operating in the south-west Atlantic and in small fish processing in freezer vessels, innovation in processing activities developed at processing plants on land and in megrim processing at fresh fish trawlers.

The project participants explain that the current squid classification system is totally or partially manual so they intend to automate the process, also integrating the packaging and distribution part into the freezing tunnels.

At this moment the simulation procedure of the process including the automatic classification of the most abundant commercial rankings is being ended through a distribution belt and hoppers. In this way, the constant product flow is guaranteed in the vibrators, whose function is to align the squid so that the optical classifier can then identify each unit and direct it to another belt depending on the rankings mentioned. Thus, after being classified the squid arrives at the conveyors towards the speedbacher that prepares the batches at 80 per cent, being the remaining 20 per cent ​​treated by spider robots until completing the tray.

Regarding small fish processing on board, the project participants explain that at the moment there is no filleting machine in the market capable of filleting small sized hake, and neither marujito, so it is important to develop a solution that contributes by adding value to these products.

Propesca has made it possible to design a filleting machine for hake being less than 35 cm suitable for marujito filleting processing. The first tests have been made and the machine works perfectly for hake while there are still adjustments to be made in the case of marujito.

The project also investigates a possible solution to the problem of hake and shrimp reprocessing. Hake processing innovation has already been carried out, studying preservation techniques that make it possible to fillet and process products on land after thawing, and the possibilities of further preservation have been evaluated, as it must be processed before freezing for the first time (onboard) so that it does not lose quality.

In this study, machinery has been installed on board for the improvement of the conservation on board in a way that allows the processing on land, developing the prototype from scratch.

Lastly, Propesca project deals with the problem of megrim evisceration in the fleet of Gran Sol, which is a limiting factor when selling the product. An automated solution has been developed to facilitate the seamen’s work on board, where there is a cutting process and an eviscerating part in line. The eviscerated part is fully developed and the prototype has been built, and details are being finalized in the cutting part, which is already built.

Propesca project was launched two years ago under the leadership of Grupo Iberconsa, with the participation of Copemar, Armadora Pereira and ARVI from the fishing sector, and with Inpromar and Optimar as technological partners.

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