Post-Ocean: The Effects of Commonly Used Harvest Methods on Finfish Measured Through Color Analysis
Max Pratt, with assistance from:
Edna Lawrence Nature Lab, Rhode Island School of Design
Department of Industrial Design, Rhode Island School of Design
Preface: My research as an Industrial Designer and Maker focuses on the relationships between waste streams and the human impact. In an effort to reduce our impact on the ecology we so often forget we are a part of, my work aims to reframe the way we look at the environment around us.
This project specifically targets our impact on our marine ecology and the waste created from commercial finfish harvest. Sources of waste in this industry are amplified exponentially by improper harvest techniques resulting in a percentage of harvested food being thrown away at various stages in its life cycle as a post-ocean product.
I am using highly accurate color analysis to perform the study, and the resulting data set is a series of photographs of fish products during their extended post-ocean life cycle.
Abstract This is an in progress study, and the information below will be updated as the study progresses, but the background and methods are available now below. If you have inquiries or input please reach out directly to Max Pratt using the contact form above.
Background: The commonly used practice of harvesting finfish in small to medium sized commercial fishing operations has remained consistent throughout the last 30 years; fish are caught via either rod and reel, longline, dragger, gillnet, or other methods, and placed on hard freshwater ice. The fish are left whole, and are not killed, gutted, bled, or fileted until landed on shore. This method typically results in the fish perishing from suffocation, or occasionally from freezing.
In the last 5 years, the United States has seen an increase in the recreational use of a method for fish harvest that was previously only used for high grade sushi fish caught in Japan and some parts of East Asia. This method, known as “Ike-Jime,” involves killing the fish by spiking the brain as soon as it is brought on board the vessel, bleeding the fish, typically by cutting the gill membrane or the major artery found in the tail, running a small metal wire up the spinal cord of the fish to stop all possibility of neural signals to the muscle tissues, and finally placing the fish into a slurry of 50% salt water to 50% freshwater ice.
Studies on this process show significant increase in the color retention and shelf life of filets of fish harvested in the “Ike-Jime” fashion, but most commercial fisheries do not employ these techniques as the labor and training required for each fish increases overhead expenses to the point of making the business unprofitable.
The goal of this study is to determine which aspects of the “Ike-Jime” harvesting method for fish are most effective in improving the quality of the end product, and based on our findings provide recommendations for good, better, and best practices when operating a commercial fishery. If implemented correctly, our hope is to help small to medium sized commercial fishing operations to reduce waste, increase the value of their catch, and foster more ethical and sustainable harvesting practices.
Methods: Whole Scup (Stenotomus chrysops), caught using a rod and reel method, will be subjected to six harvesting methods, including left whole at ambient temperature, left whole and hard-iced, bled and placed in a 50/50 saltwater ice slurry, bled then gutted and placed in a 50/50 saltwater ice slurry, brain spiked then bled then gutted and placed in a 50/50 saltwater ice slurry, and finally brain spiked then bled then having the spine neutralized with a steel cable then gutted and placed in a 50/50 saltwater ice slurry in the full “Ike-Jime” process.
Each sample and their respective filets will be photographed both in their extents and under a microscope at 40x magnification upon fileting, and in 24 hour increments thereafter for a period of 14 days. Rate of spoilage will be determined through color change analysis of each sample. Photographic color correction will be done in Adobe Lightroom using a Calibrite ColorChecker to account for any ambient lighting changes in the studio. This experiment will be repeated 3 times and representative samples of our findings will be found below.
