ABB Robots and Seafood: Trawler Deck to Robot Ike Jime

From 1945 Grimsby trawlers to Shinkei's Poseidon robot on fishing boats, how seafood processing is automating and where ABB FlexPacker and PickMaster fit.

INDUSTRIAL ROBOTICS

Chat With Robot

9/25/20261 min read

In 1945 a wartime photographer went out with the Grimsby trawler crews in England and shot them working the catch on a wet, heaving deck. Fish were gutted by hand, packed in ice down in the hold and sold days later, and every step depended on tired people in bad weather.

Black and white photo of fishermen in oilskins handling fish and baskets on a trawler deck
Black and white photo of fishermen in oilskins handling fish and baskets on a trawler deck

Fishermen working the catch aboard a Grimsby trawler, England, 1945. Photo: Richard Stone / Ministry of Information via Wikimedia Commons (public domain)

Onshore, filleting machines and conveyors took over much of the cutting, but plants still need many hands to sort, trim and pack. Out on the boat, most fish still die slowly in the hold, and a stressed fish loses quality faster.

Two workers in white coats and hairnets tipping fish from crates beside a steel conveyor
Two workers in white coats and hairnets tipping fish from crates beside a steel conveyor

Workers at the Grandi fish processing plant in Iceland, 2011. Photo: Jabbi / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 3.0)

Shinkei Systems is working on that end. Its refrigerator-sized Poseidon robot sits on fishing boats and uses computer vision to perform ike jime, the Japanese method of killing a fish quickly and humanely. In mid-September its Seremoni Grade sockeye and red snapper reached Whole Foods stores in cities including Los Angeles, Chicago and Denver.

Close up of the head of a dark silver tuna on a white surface
Close up of the head of a dark silver tuna on a white surface

A frigate tuna prepared by ike jime, the Japanese method of killing fish quickly. Photo: Syced / Wikimedia Commons (CC0)

ABB lists meat and fish among the foods its packing robots handle. The IRB 390 FlexPacker, a delta robot built for heavier food packs, already puts meat trays into cartons at Torfresma in Brazil, and the same kind of cell could pack fish portions.

Delta robot with vacuum cups lifting red meat trays from a conveyor
Delta robot with vacuum cups lifting red meat trays from a conveyor

An ABB IRB 390 FlexPacker packing meat trays at Torfresma in Brazil. Photo: ABB

Wet, cold fish plants are hard on machines. ABB sells IP67-rated versions of its robots, such as the IRB 1300 with Foundry Plus 2 protection, and its PickMaster software uses a camera so a robot can find odd-shaped pieces on a moving belt.

Weathered ABB robot arm with a Foundry Plus 2 label working inside a wet cell
Weathered ABB robot arm with a Foundry Plus 2 label working inside a wet cell

An ABB IRB 1300 with Foundry Plus 2 protection, rated IP67 against water and dust. Photo: ABB

I expect more of the first processing to happen at sea, with robots on deck and a record for every fish. At home that could mean fish that stays fresh longer, and maybe one day a kitchen robot that can bone a fillet as carefully as a sushi chef.

Hand touching a screen showing a robot picking setup next to a delta robot cell
Hand touching a screen showing a robot picking setup next to a delta robot cell

Setting up a picking job on a touch panel with ABB PickMaster Lite. Photo: ABB

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