Services and Infrastructure for Freezer Vessels
Key services and infrastructure for reducing food loss and waste (FLW) associated with freezer vessels include:
- Properly designed and maintained vessel
- Freezer equipment suppliers
- Refrigeration engineering and service providers
- Packaging/containers (e.g. cartons, polyethylene bags)
- By-product buyers/market
About 80% of the capacity of a freezer-trawler is used for sorting, processing, freezing and cold-storage on-board, and the catch capacity is limited by the freezing capacity per 24 hours. This fluctuates among the Pelagic Freezer-trawler Association (PFA) member vessels between less than 100 t/day for the smaller ones, up to over 250 t/day for the bigger vessels. Other fleets’ vessels without freezing facilities can catch a lot more per day – up to 1,000 t/day in some cases. The ships typically have 35 to 50 people on-board, working four-hour shifts. Depending on the catch and the weather, fishing trips take 3 to 4 weeks.
Key Publications
Pelagic freezer-trawler association website. | |
This document is intended to serve as a background paper and an introduction to the operations and equipment used in the freezing and cold storage of fish both on shore and at sea. | |
The report estimates the types and quantities of fish waste generated in the different sectors, from catching to processing, and summarizes the current utilization or disposal of that waste. |
More Resources
More Resources
31 October 2023