AMSEA Ergonomics class in Petersburg
mattakfish
2014-02-05 00:58:24
I know troll ergonomics has been a topic of conversation on the site a few times so I thought I'd mention that AMSEA is holding a fishing ergonomics class in Petersburg on Thursday, February 6th at 6:30 pm in the tides inn conference room. Its free. I think they'd like to hear from people who plan to go but you can also just show up. I'm looking forward to it. If I can learn a couple new tricks tips to save my back, wrists, or anything else, it's worth it.
Salty
2014-02-05 06:57:57
AMSEA staff have been on my boat both fishing and taking pictures. They are looking and learning all the time. Well worth attending their workshops and classes. Who is conducting the class? I am always looking for good ideas and they have a lot.
mattakfish
2014-02-05 07:19:01
Not sure who the instructor is. Right now, I'm the only person signed up to take it so they called and asked me to encourage others. Lots of boats getting ready for tanner/brown crab so its pretty busy here.
Not sure if its on the syllabus but id love to learn some alternative techniques/setups for cleaning fish that are a little easier on the wrists.
Kelper
2014-02-06 02:56:49
Sounds like a good idea, and I wish they'd do one down here.
Salty
2014-02-06 07:46:59
Best ideas for salmon troller on fish cleaning:
1. Convince your processor to buy round. ( pioneered that with chums and pinks, keep trying with coho. No quality problems, just processor and buyer resistance.
2. Use very sharp knives and keep em sharp. (If you are sawing up the belly your knife is too dull. I want my knife to glide up that belly.)
3. Set your system up so things are smooth, slide instead of lift.
I had a guy tell me this fall he uses disposable scapel type blades and when they start to dull he replaces the blade. Anybody else hear of this?
akfish
2014-02-06 15:44:30
I actually have thought of this. I use Havalon knives for hunting which are scapels into a normal folding knife. Contacted the owner about making a spoon knife and they are weighing the idea. Grest for skinning by the way if you hunt.
Kelper
2014-02-06 17:16:08
What got me back in my deckhanding days was pulling the gills out on the big trips. (300+ cohos a day) That twist and rip gave me some sore hands, and tendonitis. Anybody have an easier way to get those gills out?
Salty
2014-02-06 19:34:12
My wife pulls em out through the mouth. Makes a longer cut around the throat. Works for her. We always leave the throat latch connected to the jaw.
I saw coho being delivered in Cross Sound last year with both the belly cavity above the heart and the throat latch cut. I asked about it and the tenders didn't seem to have any problem. Looks to me like we are going backwards in quality.
But, when you catch as few fish as I do you have plenty of time to clean em carefully and pressure bleed the blood out of them. Too bad we don't get a premium over the guys who are cutting them wide open, not pressure bleeding, and not removing all the salmon lice.
Let me know on those Havalon scapel knives? How long till the scapel dulls cleaning salmon you think?
http://www.havalon.com/
Salty
2014-02-06 19:46:21
[attachment=0]Removing gills from silver.jpg[/attachment]Here is a pic of Sarah removing gills:
Salty
2014-02-06 20:14:44
It looks like the longer blades are about $2.50 apiece. So if you catch 5,000 coho and a blade is good for 50 (optimistically) you need 100 blades or $250 for blades versus going thru 5 $58.50 good Frost cleaning knives from Murray Pacific. Might work out. Anybody out there have any experience using these for salmon cleaning?
mydona
2014-02-07 19:59:44
Funny you mentioned the throat latch cut. When I was both gillnetting and trolling I used cut it all when we were required to clean the early spring GN fish. The idea was to mark them as GN caught as apposed to the premiem quality troll caught. That was also back when GNers were getting a lower price than trollers for the same fish
curmudgeon
2014-02-07 21:03:05
I'm wondering how many of our iced fish actually end up in a display-case someplace like Pike Street Market? I'm thinking our fish almost all go to a fillet-line, right? In that case, how much difference does the particular cut matter? Anyone?
Hans2
2014-02-07 23:02:29
I have one of the Havalon knives. Super sharp out of the package, but from what I can tell they use a relatively soft stainless for their blades. Unless your cuts are perfect and you don't hit anything resembling heavy cartilage, I don't see any way you could get 50 fish out of a blade unless you stropped them often.
JYDPDX
2014-02-07 23:21:48
I was under the assumption that cutting the throat latch and then handling the fish by its head bends the head backward and traumatizes the back or the neck meat near the head. I don't think the fish's anatomy was constructed by nature keeping in mind that it needed to be sturdy enough for fisherman to cart them around by their heads, let alone without the throat latch connected. I would also imagine that when digging them out of ice, the head is less supported and would have a tendency to bend un-naturally and damage the adjacent flesh. I know that in my uninsulated hold the ice likes to melt at the sides of the bins (where the fish's heads are) and glaciate into a more or less solid block and often consuming the heads. Having more support from their bodies and having the heads actually connected in two places helping them survive the extraction process without contortion never hurt anything. The fish may be handled again at the plant and if carried or handled by the head could cause further disruption to adjacent flesh area.
All that said, why not cut them if it going to save you time and make you more money because the processors obviously do not acknowledge the importance.
I personally think the fish looks bad with it cut and believe it is well worth the minuscule amount of extra time to have a higher quality product regardless if my processors agree.
Trnaround
2014-02-08 03:08:25
Cutting the throat latch is what dulls the knife more than anything else. I am not sure it actually takes more time to keep it intact. I do know only one processor in SE cares if it is cut. Probably a good idea to find out before you do a load wrong. A sharp knife is an important tool, and a high quality blade is worth the money. I have never found a plastic handled knife that is good for anything but kelp. There is a question of safety, with a scalpel sharp blade though in a tossing boat with tired deck crew. Do you really want to deal with a deep wound or loss of a finger in the middle of a trip? Just saying caution.
Salty
2014-02-08 05:39:21
Good discussion guys, thanks. I have not made my mind up on the blades. Pretty comfortable with my present system.
Sometime I should try and calculate the # of salmon I have cleaned since I was 8 years old and got a nickel a fish.
The humpy and chum cleaning years were killers.
Salty
2014-02-13 04:31:50
Nice article Salty, but where's this 40 pound King?
Salty
2014-02-14 07:18:52
In the paper copy of Fisherman's news. They didn't put it in the on line story. I am not at my computer or I would post it. Maybe tomorrow.
AMSEA
2014-02-14 19:04:21
Thanks for linking to the Fisherman's News article, Salty!
All of the workshops take place at the Centennial Building, 330 Harbor Drive, from 6:00 PM to 8:00 PM. Learn about ways to avoid musculoskeletal problems common in commercial fishing and share ideas on ergonomic changes that fishermen have made on their vessels. Bring a mat if you want to practice some exercises to "tune up" your body before, during and after the season. If you can't make it to Sitka, check out our website for workshops in your area or contact us to request a workshop.