Research

Protecting Fresh Salmon During Shipment

Problem: As fresh salmon shipments from Alaska continue to grow, the need for careful planning of these shipments is critical. In order to assure a quality product, proper packaging must be used to maintain temperature during transit.

Approach: Understanding the heat transfer and performance of shipping containers and their components will assure this quality. This project will evaluate the standard procedures and shipping containers used in fresh salmon transport and determine their performance under normal and abuse conditions. A guide will be developed to assist fishermen, processors and other direct marketers in the selection process of packaging for quality. The objective of this project is to evaluate the heat transfer characteristics of seafood packaging materials and determine strategies for assuring proper temperature control for fresh salmon shipped from Alaska. Under development is a packaging guide for Alaska processors and fishermen to help them protect product quality.

Results: The temperature of uninsulated brown wetlock boxes without gel packs rose from 2ºC to 5ºC within 6 hours and to 10ºC at 24 hours. Adding gel packs slowed the temperature rise significantly taking 32 hours to reach 10ºC. The use of a white wetlock box affected temperature rise only slightly requiring 22 hours to reach 10ºC. Adding gel packs to the white boxes resulted in the same temperature profile as for brown wetlocks. Adding a bubble wrap liner to the standard wetlock box had no effect in slowing the temperature rise, either with or without gel packs. A ⅜ inch styrofoam liner in wetlock boxes without gel packs took 40 hours to reach 10ºC., with gel packs it took 56 hours. The use of a stand alone styrofoam box showed very similar heating characteristics to the styrofoam/wetlock combination.

Contact person: Dr. Chuck Crapo email: stsmiley@alaska.edu