FISH FROZEN ALIVE.

Hauraki Plains Gazette, Volume XXXVII, Issue 4924, 11 January 1926, Page 1

FISH FROZEN ALIVE.

TRANSPORTATION EXPERIMENTS.

GREAT IMPROVEMENT RESULTS.

In extreme cold such as exists in the great rivers, of Siberia, which may be frozen solid, fishes are often imprisoned for months on end, and during each period assume a rigid condition, their vital functions being temporarily suspended.

This fact (says the “Daily Telegraph”) has suggested experiments in the freezing of live fish for transportation.

Some years ago the Swiss physicist, Picket, gradually cooled the water in a, tank containing different kinds of fresh-water fish, until it froze into a solid block. On melting the ice two months later the slowly thawed fish recovered their normal vitality, showing no signs of ill-heath as a result of their prolonged imprisonment in the ice.

As a result of a large number of experiments of a similar nature recently conducted in America live fish are now being transported on a commercial scale embedded in ice. The fishes are first placed in a closed tub of water into which oxygen under pressure is introduced. After being kept just above freezing point for three days they are frozen solid by immersion in ( a freezing mixture. The blocks of ice containing the fish are then removed from the tubs,, ■and are surrounded with a heat insulating packing, and under such conditions they can be kept in cold storage until wanted.

The cost of transporting live fish in water is prohibitive, four ,to six gallons being required for each pound of active fish, according to .their kind. The new freezing method wlhich is now in use therefore saves, considerable expense.