| Abstract |
Fresh fish is one of the most perishable of all foods. The rate of spoilage doubles with every 5.5°C rise in temperature. Dehydration, onset of autolysis and microbial growth cause fresh fish to spoil rapidly. Fish is moved through the various stages of storage, auction, processing and distribution in a variety of containers, many of which are lacking in good hygienic standards. If the fish are of poor quality to start with, the quality loss will be even more pronounced. The best package cannot improve the quality of the contents. The function of fish containers in general and fish boxes in particular is to make possible efficient and economic handling of fresh fish from catch to the retail market. These containers should protect fish from undesirable influences such as crushing, spoilage, environment pollution and pilferage. They should facilitate storage, effective chilling, internal and long distance transport, easy determination of quantities and display in wholesale and retail markets. These requirements should be met at the lowest possible cost. There are at least four important factors to be reckoned with where transportation of fresh fish is concerned. They are i) Method of preservation of fresh fish ii) Mode of transport iii) Containers for packing iv) Organisational/socio economic factors. |
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