BOATS & GEAR
ONBOARD PROCESSING
Carsoe autofreezer, the fully automated freezer line produces precision weighed fillet or surimi blocks.
FOLLOW THE LEADER For freezer trawlers in the U.S., the processing experts at Carsoe deliver. By Paul Molyneaux
hen big vessels want processing systems that work, whether it be head and gut, surimi and pollock blocks, shrimp, or any other high volume fishery, one of the fi rst companies they talk to is Carsoe. “I think for shrimp we are supplying the systems for all the big trawlers, maybe 100 percent,” says Jeppe Christensen, sales director at Carsoe, a Denmark-headquartered company with its U.S. division based in Seattle, Washington. “Certainly we are second to none.” Shrimp has gained importance in Canada since the failure of the cod fishery, and is now a vital part of the Newfoundland fisheries. “We recently put a system on a vessel for Baffin Fisheries,” says Christensen. “It’s a combination shrimp and halibut trawler.” The $72.5 million, 262-foot vessel being built by the Inuit-owned Baffin Fisheries will be the largest trawler of its kind in Canada. Carsoe systems are geared toward product flow and processing from the net to the freezer. “Every 36 National Fisherman \ Winter 2022
Carsoel photos
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Much of the Alaska pollock catch gets processed into surimi, and Carsoe’s pollock and surimi system blends mince from rejected fillets and trimmings with other ingredients to produce frozen surimi.
project is a one off,” says U.S. sales vice president Rueben Nielsen. “We talk to the customer about what they want and what they need.” Nielsen and Christensen agree that while they pride themselves in building the best possible systems with top-notch products, about 80 percent of their business is rooted in personal relationships. “It’s about www.nationalfisherman.com
