Fish Ice

THE ICING ON THE FISH

Reliable icemakers let shermen chill out on long trips

By Paul Molyneaux

B

uying ice in shing ports is usually no big deal – pull up dockside and spray a few tons of ake into the sh hold. But for boats making long trips or operating in remote areas where buying ice is not possible or practical, they need onboard ice machines. North Star, Howe and Buus are among the manufacturers, new and established, supplying commercial shing vessels with ice machines.

“I’m building a new boat,” says Oregon tuna sherman Michael Smith. “We’re going albacore shing starting in July, then we’re going to put an ice machine on in November for longer trips longlining. It’s either going to be a Buus or a Maja.”

Smith has chased tuna and other highly migratory species across the distant waters of the Paci c, and has plenty of experience with ice machines. “We used to use North

Northstar Technicians aboard the Seattle-based Gordon Jensen, preparing to connect a Northstar Teknotherm M-10 ice maker.

Star ice machines,” he says. “And they work pretty good. I hear they still make a good machine.”

Space and power are major considerations when using ice machines on board. Smith is looking at putting two machines on his new boat. “We were looking at putting a single 3-ton machine, or two 2-ton machines.” Smith says he is looking at Buus units from Denmark. He describes those ice machines as having a horizontal steel roller at minus 20 to minus 40 degrees that picks up water, freezes it instantly, and then scrapes it o with a blade. “It gets a layer of about a 1/16th to 3/16ths,” says Smith. “Then there is a razor-sharp blade that cuts it o as it comes around.”

Smith uses freshwater ice because saltwater ice will freeze the tuna. “The problem with saltwater ice is that it can go down to minus 6 degrees, and that will freeze the sh,” he says. “We have two RO [reverse osmosis] machines on board that feed the icemakers. The tuna have a natural oil on the skin, and they hold their color and quality well on freshwater ice. Saltwater ice actually discolors them more because it’s acidic.” Smith notes that they do add a

The Buus 3-ton horizontal aker is a relative newcomer in the US market. Built in the Netherlands, the Buus ice aker harvests ice from the outside of the freezing cylinder.

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Icicle Seafoods processing vessel the Gordon Jensen uses ice to preserve the catch prior to processing and freezing.

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“All of the parts and the machines are made here in the U.S., the evaporators, everything. We’re proud of that.”

— Logan Shepardson, North Star president

little salt to their ice at times to make it colder.

To keep the systems running, Smith bought a low-speed John Deere engine. “Albacore are a funny fish. I believe they are sensitive to engine noise and vibration. I was able to get a John Deere that makes about 33 kw at 1,200 rpms. And for the main I have an old Cummins truck engine that I marinized. It has a PTO that I can run another genset from and make another 20 kw. That should give me all the power I need.”

While Smith speaks highly of the European made ice machines, Buus and Maja, he started with North Star. The Seattle-based company is the most common brand for ice machines in the Pacific Northwest.

“I think we have 96 percent of

The Howe Corporation in Chicago specializes in making ice machines for fishing vessels. The Howe units range from one to three tons.

market share for processing plants from Oregon to Alaska,” says North Star president Logan Shepardson. “Our primary focus is on the shing industry.”

According to Shepardson, North Star developed ake ice technology in 1950. Most North Star machines can be found in land-based processing plants all around the U.S. and the world, but Shepardson notes that they put ice machines aboard all types of shing vessels. “We manufacture machines that make from 4.5 tons a day to 50 tons a day,” says Shepardson. “We see them being used on tenders and in all kinds of di erent sheries like tuna and black cod. And we see larger machines being used on catcher processors where they don’t use the ice to preserve the sh but to initially cool them before processing and freezing.”

Unlike the Buus ice maker that Smith is considering, the North Star ice makers cut ice from the inside of a cylinder. “As the harvesting tool goes around it’s followed by a spray that creates a 1.5 to 2 millimeter layer the harvester can scrape o on the next pass,” says Shepardson. “We might change the blade depending on whether a machine was making salt water or freshwater ice,” he says.

Shepardson notes that North Star machines are built for durability. “We have machines in operation out there that were built in the ‘60s,” he says. “All of the parts and the machines are made here in the U.S., the evaporators, everything. We’re proud of that. And though our machines are usually the more expensive option, we build for reliability. When you’re using ice to preserve your sh, you can’t go a day without ice.”

Another brand that sells ice machines for shing vessels is the Chicago-based Howe Corporation. “We make machines, we don’t do the engineering of the boats,” says Alex Pawlikowski, national sales manager for the Howe Corporation. “The designers and builders tell us what they need and we sell them the machine.”

Howe shipboard ice makers start at 1-ton machines, with models that make up to three tons of ake ice every 24 hours. “About two thirds of what we sell are seawater ice machines,” she says. “But I know that some boats like freshwater ice. The seawater ice is not good for certain sh.”

Pawlikowski notes that like North Star, the Howe machines are made in the U.S. “This year we are celebrating 110 years in business, and we are a fourth generation women-owned company,” she says. “We have a machine shop and make many of our own parts,” she says. “We make our own evaporators, they are chrome-plated carbon steel, which has much better heat transfer, so you don’t need as big a compressor to operate the ice machine. So, it’s more energy e cient.” Pawlikowski points out that the compressor can be located deep in a vessel to help lower the center of gravity.

For ice making onboard, there appear to be some good choices for dependable machines that give shermen and tenders the freedom to sh wherever the sh are.

A 3-ton saltwater ake ice machine on deck of a Louisiana tuna vessel. The Gulf of Mexico is one place shermen do not want to be without ice.

Paul Molyneaux is the Boats & Gear editor for National Fisherman.

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