How to Transport Fresh Fish? The Packaging You Need

Fish, shellfish, and other seafood are easily perishable foods. Therefore, you need to be conscious about the transportation of fresh fish and other seafood. It helps you keep the fish in good condition. Furthermore, you must avoid any possibility of contamination by microorganisms. For this reason, you should pay attention to different aspects of the transport and handling of fresh fish. Additionally, the temperature, the characteristics of the containers, and the vehicles to transport them should also be considered.

Packaging Conditions for Fresh Fish

Fresh fish packaging is the most important aspect of proper fish preservation. Therefore, certain conditions must be met when transporting fish. Here, you cannot make your life possible by using custom shatter envelopes or E-Boxes. Actually, the temperature is very important, and it is classified according to the fish: chilled, frozen, or frozen in brine.

• Refrigerated: 0°C
• Frozen: between -20°C and -15°C
• Frozen in brine at -9°C
• Regarding the containers, they must have the following characteristics:
• Protect fish from contamination, physical damage, and other factors that can spoil it.
• Contain the fish in optimal conditions until it reaches the consumer.
• Facilitate the handling of small and large quantities of fish with ice.
• Simplify and speed up the loading, unloading, and transportation of the product.
• Have adequate packaging and labeling.

The materials used in fish packaging are plastics (HDPE or EPS, expanded polystyrene), paper, cardboard, wood, rigid material, or a combination of several.

Types of Packaging for Fresh Fish

Next, we will see the most common types of packaging for packaging fresh fish. Plastic boxes

• These boxes are used for transport and storage and not for final consumption, except if the customer buys the fresh fish at a market or fish market.
• They are made of long-lasting plastic, such as polypropylene.
• They are nettable and self-stacking, making storage easier.
• Normally, they have a drainage system so that the water can go out and fall on those that are below.
• They are used in conjunction with ice, usually insulated, to maintain the cold chain.
• The manufacturers of these boxes use different capacities to manufacture them. The most used is between 50 and 100 liters. They serve maritime, land, and air transport.

Expanded polystyrene (EPS) boxes

This type of box has multiple advantages:

• They are lightweight and offer excellent thermal insulation.
• The high capacity of mechanical resistance and shock absorption is a plus.
• The absorption of water is low, as is its chemical resistance. Therefore, these boxes are very suitable for transporting frozen or iced fish.
• All these characteristics make them ideal for transporting food at controlled temperatures. They are only used to transport fresh fish.

Pre-formed polyethylene (PET) bags

They are used for packaging before or after freezing. You can use these bags to transport them to the final consumer. You can also use these bags with form-seal machines. They have numerous advantages:

• Maintain the quality of the product since PET creates an excellent barrier to aroma, oxygen, and water vapor.
• Perfect tightness to liquids and good elasticity
• Laminated pre-formed bags (PE-PVDC, PE/VOH, or PE/PA)
• They are used for vacuum packaging before freezing the fish. It is frequently used to reach the end customer as well as for transport.
• They provide a good barrier to odors, light, moisture, and oxygen.
• They allow more creativity when it comes to design, such as transparent finishes, colors, matt, or gloss finishes.
• There are numerous variants and innovations in laminated plastics. Also, we can find others that are not used for vacuuming but for heat sealing and have extraordinary resistance and brightness, making them ideal for packaging frozen food.

Master Boxes

Also called master cartons, they are used for chilled and frozen fish. They have to be assembled in the plant. The fish blocks must be wrapped in PE film to avoid frostbite, and small products in 2-kilogram boxes. The union system is double, stapling, sewn, glued, or with special closing equipment. They are used when it is not necessary for the CBD packaging in the UK to be returnable.

Custom rigid boxes

These boxes are the best to bear all external and environmental factors. With that, you can also utilize these boxes for branding and promotional activities. Sometimes, these boxes may not be suitable, especially for long distances. However, these boxes can be useful when you can provide fresh fish and other seafood to your customers in less time.

Final Words

So, there are different types of materials and formats for packing fish. To choose it, we only have to be clear for what purpose we transport it: only for transport or for the consumption of the end customer, whether it is frozen or refrigerated, and some more details, such as the design of the packaging.