Freezing Technology

7.1.1 Packaging for Fresh Fish Handling

To maintain the quality of fresh fish, use of good fish boxes and packaging materials is required. Specially designed and constructed fish boxes are now widely used, such as insulated containers for air shipment. Appropriate packaging also makes handling easier, which reduces labour costs.

Important Requirements for Fish Boxes and Containers

• They must be of a suitable size for the range of fish to be handled or the products to be put into them.
• They should be of a convenient size for manual handling or lifting by mechanical equipment.
• They should be stackable such that the weight of the containers on top rests on the containers underneath and not on the fish.
• They should be constructed of impervious non-tainting materials.
• They should be easy to clean.
• They should provide drainage for the melt –water.

Polyethylene Fish Boxes

High density polyethylene is most commonly used for fish boxes as it is strong and light in weight and easy to clean. Polyethylene fish boxes are very popular onboard fishing vessels.

Disposable Fish Boxes

The disposable boxes are commonly used. These hold up to approximately 25 kg of fish or fish plus ice. They may or may not be insulated. Insulated boxes include fiberboard boxes with polystyrene liners.Non-insulated fish boxes are normally fiber board cartons, waxed or otherwise water-proofed. A road transport, disposable packaging can be a water-proofed carton with or without insulation depending on whether the transport vehicle is refrigerated or not.  Packaging for air transport, has to be light, strong and leak proof, may consist of a heavy duty water-proofed corrugated carton with two polyethylene liners and insulating material between the liners.