Seawater Sherbet Ice: Preserves the Freshness of Fish
To deliver safe and tasty fish to the family dinner table, AIST and Nikko Corp. have been creative to help fishery sites and fishing vessels. A large amount of ice is needed to keep caught fish fresh. However, if the vessel stores ice before leaving port, the load and hence fuel costs will increase. Thus, a machine that creates sherbet ice from seawater quickly and in large amounts on boats was developed.
Ocean-fresh fish are damaged if they thrash wildly and their flesh deteriorates. To prevent this, it is important to cool the fish at once after they are hauled, and to keep them at a proper temperature afterwards. One method is to cool the fish with large amounts of ice, and sherbet-type ice keeps the fish fresher and without damage. However, if ice to cool the fish is loaded onto fishing boats beforehand, time and labor are needed, and the heavy boats waste fuel.
AIST and Nikko Corp. have developed an ice maker that creates sherbet-type ice from seawater aboard. Compared to crushed ice used in the past, sherbet ice created from seawater maintains the freshness of fish, and also cools the fish very quickly to below zero degrees. This ice maker has already been commercialized, and is used at fishery sites such as in the northern seas.