Experiment of mechanized gutting for typical small marine fish

Abstract: An experimental study on mechanized gutting for small marine fish was conducted, faced with equipment shortages for the pre-processing of small marine fish. The test platform of fish gutting was established. Abyssal searobin (Lepidotrigla abyssalis), crossbarred lizardfish (Synodus macrops), and little yellow croaker (Pseudosciaena polyactis) were selected as the typical representative fish. The following experiments were conducted for comparing the gutting effects and sensory quality of processed small marine fish: the two types of arrangement patterns for fish belly cutting and gutting, two types of cutting disc configuration, four types of gutting wheel structure configuration, and the rotation direction and rotation speed changes of the cutting disc and gutting wheel, and their various matching combinations with the linear velocity of the pinch belt. The test results showed that the lower setting type cutting and gutting devices combined with the converse cutting of a high rotating toothless disc knife and converse gutting of low rotating form-copying special-shaped toothed gutting wheel are suitable to all the three typical small marine fish. A triangular profile toothed gutting wheel or Trapezoidal profile toothed gutting wheel combined with a converse gutting processing method are also suitable for flat belly fish such as Abyssal searobin (Lepidotrigla abyssalis) and the fish which have a laterally compressed body such as little yellow croaker (Pseudosciaena polyactis). The productivity of a mechanized processing method is as 8-12 times as much as the productivity of a manual processing method. The 100% gut removal rate and the quality effect of almost zero fish body damage can be achieved for some small species. The processing order of mechanized gutting for small marine fish is: head cutting-orienting and orderly feeding-pinch belt positioning and conveying-disc knife rotary cutting fish belly-pinch belt positioning and conveying-opening fish belly-gutting wheel scrapings off fish viscera-pinch belt positioning and conveying-and gutted fish conveyed to washing. In general, the above mentioned species of small marine fish are landed together, and their size and body characteristics are greatly different, so their pre-processing is difficult and needs a heavy workload. However, the manual gutting processing replaced by the mechanical gutting processing can be achieved through proper size grading and species sorting, and the development of a general small-scale fish gutting device. This research can provide the guidance for the design of mechanized cutting and gutting equipment for small marine fish.