How will you store large amounts of tuna ???

craigc · 07-30-2002, 03:55 PM

I ask this question because I haven't faced this opportunity/problem before. If your ice chest are filled with 300# of ice, where do you store your processed fish after chilling ??

Fishing on a boat with a forward cabin and large clear deck in the rear of the boat; I guess we would put the chest of ice at the rear of the boat, and would put the fish forward in the cabin of boat.

Unless we have ice chests for all the tuna to be caught; which the cost could be large... is there an alternative method to store fish ??

Your responses would not be most appreciated for our planning... thanks...

Threemuch · 07-30-2002, 04:11 PM

Always a problem with the albacore. Private boat fishboxes are woefully small, with a few exceptions. You won't get one tuna in Lou's box, let alone many. On the advice of Puffin, I bought two Contico Plastic Tool Boxes. Big Bad tough boxes, $35 each at WalMart, in the Auto section. A couple of rubber mats under each for holding the thing in place.

Your other option is to shuck the fish prior to storage. I have done this many times, gives you something to do between bites.

Take good care of your tuna! Scombridae poisioning is real.

From http://www.cfast.vt.edu/publications/tuna.html

Scombroid Poisoning

Whether the tuna is bought in a store or canned at home, one danger you should be aware of is scombroid poison. This substance is produced in scombroid fishes when naturally occurring spoilage bacteria in the meat convert the amino acid histidine in the fish protein into a biologically active amine poison, saurine. The saurine is produced when fish are left in the sun or at room temperature for several hours.

The incidence of scombroid poisoning is rare and generally not fatal, but the poisoning resembles a severe allergy with such symptoms as headaches, dizziness, nausea, and vomiting. Tuna containing the toxin in such high quantities as to bring on illness is said to taste "sharp and peppery." The toxin is relatively heat-stable and not completely destroyed or inactivated during the canning process. In order to avoid scombroid poisoning, fish should be processed immediately after capture, and should be discarded if left in the sun for more than two hours.

Deepslayer · 07-30-2002, 04:13 PM

We had three people fishing. Two of us brought our 120 quart coolers. The rest of the fish, after they were cooled off in the large cooler, were put in those plastic storage boxes available at KMart etc. and then covered with ice. The ice held them until we got back into port. The containers are fairly cheap too!
We pretty much had boxes and coolers towards the front of the aft section keeping the fishing area fairly clear. We also had one of the large coolers on the swim rack. It was definitely crowded. I can't imagine what it would be like if everybody limited out! :shocked:
,Ed

craigc · 07-30-2002, 04:44 PM

thanks Kurt and Ed... your advise seems straight forward... since I don't know how often this tuna fishing is going to occur... what do you think of the following...

1. bring along two, large garbage cans; line them with plastic bags and lash them to a rail.

2. When the fish are caught; gut and behead them.. let them them wash overboard in saltwater to clean and cool the fish off.... put the fish into a cooler of salt water chilled with ice until the next fish is caught. When the next fish is caught, pack the chilled fish with ice and put the chilled fish into the garbage can. pack some more ice around the fish to stablize....

Until the ice is completely melted, the surrounding water will never get above 32 F....

I don't know how many fish I can put into a garbage can, but I'd think it's in the order of 10 to 30 fish...

What do you think of this idea... and how are the rest of you guys going to tackle this logistical problem...

I agree with Kurt on the poisoning... and my brother has made me sensitive to the issue for safety... I don't want to read about a food poisoning accident in the weeks to come... thanks . Craig

Deepslayer · 07-30-2002, 06:40 PM

You might need a cooler that will cool down more than one fish at a time. You will want them cool enough before you put them in the trash cans! And when the bite is on you will be getting them in multiples. The trash cans should work fine. they are on the same principle as the large plastic storage containers, with lids, we used. If there's enough ice it will keep. By the way if you use sea water and too much ice you could get it below 32 degrees. Remember making ice cream by hand with rock salt and ice.
,Ed

avid · 07-30-2002, 07:45 PM

Have you seen these insulated fish bags, not cheap by any measure. However, they would provide lots of storage and stow very compactly.

http://www.canyonproducts.com/catalog/catfshbgs.htm

avid

Threemuch · 07-31-2002, 07:19 AM

I think you might be disapointed at how many you get into a garbage can to. It might be 10, but not many more. Certainly not 30.

fish assassin · 07-31-2002, 08:00 AM

Hi guys,

Just a quick note ... Costco has 150+ quart Igloo
coolers for sixty bucks. If you stack the fish in
correctly, you can get quite a few in one of them
suckers!

-assAssin- [img]graemlins/idea.gif[/img]

corrirod · 07-31-2002, 09:44 PM

Threemuch is right. Unless you catch the smallest tuna in the sea you'll be REALLY LUCKY to fit 10 in a garbage can. Most people have trouble just storing 30 on the whole boat! :grin: Our biggest tuna only weighed 16 pounds but they are really long and very wide, unlike a 16lb. salmon.

[ 07-31-2002, 10:45 PM: Message edited by: corrirod ]

Pilar · 08-01-2002, 02:10 AM

The totes work ok and are cheap. The trick for me was to get the ones I could shove up under the bow to get them out of the way. A 35 gallon tote holds 8-10 tuna stacked flat and 100 # of ice.