Canning of smoked sardine

A process for canning smoked oil sardine (Sardinella longiceps) is described. Cold blanching of dressed fish in brine, smoking followed by drying in hot air or cooking in steam to reduce the moisture content to the required level and subsequent canning yields product with good organoleptic properties. Coconut husk is used as source of smoke.

Protein from Jawla prawn (Acetes spp.) and Squilla (Orato squilla nepa)

A simple method of isolation of protein from jawla prawn and squilla, which does not involve any chemical treatment, is reported. The method consists in blending the jawla prawn/squilla with equal quantity of water, removal of chitinous matter, heating the pulp at 112°C for 15-20 minutes and drying the precipitated protein after filtration.

Further studies on changes in protein fractions of fish muscle during storage in ice

The changes in the major protein nitrogen fractions of two commercially important fishes of Indian waters, viz., mackerel (Rastrelliger kanagurta) and lactarius (Lactarius lactarius), during storage in ice are reported. The significance of the findings is discussed in comparison with the results of a similar study on two species of marine prawns and oil sardine, reported earlier.

Biology of fouling in Neendakara port, a tropical estuary in the south west coast of India

Species composition and some aspects of the biology of the fouling community in Neendakara port (southwest coast of India) has been examined for a period of one year. Fouling organisms were collected with a system of glass panels exposed for varying durations and during different months in the port. One species of sponge, nine species of coelenterates, thirteen species of polyzoans, four species of mud-tube dwelling polychaetes, four species of serpulids, one species each of mud-tube forming amphipod and tanaid, two species of oysters, six species of mussels and not less than eight species of tunicates were the macro fouler which settled over the panels. Monthly and seasonal settlement of the different species has been recorded. Fouling has been a continuous process occurring throughout the year in Neendakara port with slightly fluctuating biomass and considerably varying species composition. Alternate species dominance of marine and brackish water forms has been an important feature of fouling in the area. Number of species of the sedentary fouling animals represented on test panels has been high during the highly saline pre-monsoon period and low during the monsoon period.

Survey on the idle capacity of fish processing (freezing) plants in India - 1. West Coast

The extent of idle capacity in fish processing (freezing) plants estimated by stratified random sampling is reported. The estimates for 1978 and 1979 for the processing plants on the west coast of India were 76.9 % and 73.2 % respectively at the rate of 250 working days per annum and two shifts per day. The percentage error of estimates worked out to 6.04 for 1978 and 6.98 for 1979. Substantial under utilization of processing plants noticed in all the states accounts mainly to the non-availability of raw material (prawn), high cost of production and shortage of power.

Influence of sex, spawning, starvation and water temperature on fatty acid composition in Tilapia mossambica

The influence of sex, spawning, starvation and water temperature on the fatty acid composition of Tilapia mossambica has been studied. Tilapia egg lipid was found to have unusually high percentage of C sub(22:6) fatty acids (9.09%) compared to body and intestinal lipids. The C sub(16:1) acid was much less in the egg lipids (3.5%) whereas it was 11% in the body lipids. There was no significant difference in the fatty acid composition of body and intestinal lipids of male and female tilapia. Starvation caused the presence of high content of lower fatty acids (C sub(6), C sub(8), C sub(30), C sub(12) and C sub(33)) in the body lipids. Water temperature also influenced the fatty acid composition of Tilapia; the difference was more significant in body lipids than in intestinal lipids.

Comparative study of the nutrient content of fish and shell fish

The amino acid, mineral and proximate composition of mullet (Mugil oeur), mackerel (Rastrelliger kanagurta), crab (Scylla serrata) and prawn (Penaeus indicus) are reported. The data are used for comparing the nutritional quality of the fish and shell fish. Further, the amino acid composition is screened for their adequacy to meet the FAO/WHO recommended pattern of essential amino acids.

Water soluble nitrogenous component from squilla (Orato squilla nepa)

A water soluble hygroscopic powder has been isolated from squilla in good yield, ranging from 3.5 to 5.0% of the fresh raw material, by a simple direct method. The process consists of homogenising squilla with an equal quantity of water, removal of chitinous matter from the slurry by filtration, heating the filtrate at 0.7 kg/sq.cm steam pressure for 15-20 minutes, removal of the precipitated protein by filtration and concentration and final drying in vacuum of the filtered cooled liquor. The pale brown powder so obtained consists mainly of peptones and proteoses and has been found to be comparable to BDH peptone for growth of bacteria, ability to serve as source for tryptophan for indole production and to provide substrate for the production of hydrogen sulphide. Comparative studies have been made on similar water soluble fractions from two species of prawns, namely, Metapenaeus affinis and Parapenaeopsis stylifera.

Survey on the idle capacity of fish processing (freezing) plants in India - 2. East coast

The extent of idle capacity in the fish processing (freezing) plants in the east coast of India estimated by stratified random sampling and the factors responsible for the same are reported. The estimates of idle capacity of fish processing plants in the east coast for the years 1978 and 1979 were respectively 75.9% and 72.5% on the basis of 250 working days per annum and double shift per day. The percentage errors of estimates worked out to 6.9 for 1978 and 4.7 for 1979. The corresponding figures were worked out on the basis of 200 working days also. Substantial under-utilisation of plants in all the maritime states in the east coast accounted mainly to non-availability of raw material, high cost of production, shortage of power, scarcity of ice and potable water during peak season and frequent labour troubles.

Biochemical changes of fish fingers held at frozen storage

The frozen storage characteristics of fish fingers made out of two different species, differing in lipid content for a period of six months are outlined. The study reveals that the lipid content of the fish meat used for making fish fingers influences the storage pattern in terms of the chemical parameters like peroxide value, thiobarbituric acid value and free fatty acids. The introduction of monosodium glutamate has improved the flavour of the fish fingers. Further, the application of batter on the fish fingers imparted some protective effect in the case of semi-fatty fish.

Investigations on the number of trials required for statistical comparison of fishing gears

The number of fishing trials required for comparing the efficiency of fishing gears was investigated. A unique solution to this problem did not appear to exist because of the heterogeneity of the experimental material. Sequential experimentation and analysis have been found to be a practical approach to this problem. By this, the experiment can be terminated almost after 35 days fishing for catches with standard error per unit as per cent of the mean about 30% or less (after logarithmic transformation). For data with mean catches less than 1.5 kg analysis of variance approach does not appear to be meaningful.

Observations on the parasites and associates of wood boring molluscs and crustaceans of the south-west coast of India

An interesting assemblage of commensalic organisms ranging from Protozoa to Arthropoda has been identified from the wood boring animals (molluscs and crustaceans) from the south-west coast of India. Certain aspects of the general biology of the associated ciliates such as the nature of incidence, division in relation to environmental parameters, survival outside the body of the host and reactions related to the general condition of the host are described. Results are also presented of the tolerance of the rare commensalic hydroid Eutima commensalis to different salinities of the medium.

Squilla protein: chemical composition and nutritive value

Protein extract prepared from squilla (Grato squilla nepa), a commercially unexploited crustacean, was analysed for crude protein and essential amino acids. All the essential amino acids except tryptophan and threonine were present in nutritionally adequate amounts. The protein was evaluated for its nutritional quality in respect of growth rate, protein efficiency ratio (PER) and liver nitrogen content by feeding on rats. Growth rates and protein efficiency ratios were similar in rats fed on casein, squilla protein and a combination of squilla protein and casein (1:1) diet. The weight of liver and kidneys were normal.

Soluble protein isolated from low cost fish and fish wastes

The method of preparation, composition, amino acid content, protein efficiency ratio and areas of possible application of water soluble protein isolates from low cost fish and fish wastes are discussed in detail in this communication.

The effect of increase in the number of fishing trips on the economic efficiency of 9.82 m and 11 m fishing trawlers along Kerala coast

Cost-benefit analysis of a 9.82 m and 11 m fishing trawlers based on the number of fishing trips is presented. The number of fishing trips per year determines the profit and loss of the trawler. With the increase in the number of fishing trips, the profit also increase for both the sizes of trawlers. The minimum quantity of prawn and fish to be landed for 0-20% profit for varying number of fishing trips are worked out. The break-even for 9.82 and 11m trawlers was observed to be 185 and 210 fishing trips respectively during 1980-81.