Marel has developed Farmed Fish Solution, a high-speed grading and intelligent packing solution for farmed fish operations that can grade up to four sizes simultaneously.
The new machine includes grading, packing and labeling capabilities and is hailed as a complete, value-adding solution at a competitive price from Marel, a leading manufacturer of seafood processing equipment.
Farmed Fish Solution packs to such an accurate fixed target weight that increased yield alone ensures a fast return on investment, according to the Iceland-based company. The solution is suitable for handling small, whole fish such as sea bream, tilapia and trout.
Each fish is individually weighed as it passes along the high precision flowscale in a continuous stream. It then travels along a grader, with flexible gate configurations of up to 24 gates. A machine interface, connected to a standard PC and optional Innova software, manages the entire process.
Each fish is automatically weight-sorted to batching bins. When a target weight has been reached, the bin closes and releases the high-yield batch onto an ergonomically designed pack-off shelf, for operators to pack into boxes.
Labor costs are minimized since grading and packing are a single operation, and integration with Innova production management software enables full control and monitoring of the grading operation in real time.
A labeling component controlled by Innova software is also available, which prints barcodes and real-time information for each batch before a take-away conveyor delivers completed boxes to a common exit point.
“Our farmed fish solution offers higher speed, greater accuracy and improved yield – three factors that are extremely important to our customers,” said Ian Weatherstone, Marel Grading sales team manager.
