Hello! Today we will talk about how shrimp is caught,
which is one of the most healthy foods. These crustaceans are found throughout all seas
and oceans, and can even be found in fresh water bodies. Unique arthropods are perceived,
first of all, as a nutritious delicacy, an ingredient in various dishes, but shrimps
themselves are very unusual and even mysterious inhabitants of the underwater world, with
a special body structure. In nature, there are about 2000 species of
shrimp. All of them can be divided into two groups - cold water and warm water. Outwardly,
they differ in size - cold water ones are much smaller. Northern red shrimp are most
common here, northern chillim and red comb shrimp are also common. By the way, they are
red even when raw. These shrimps are boiled alive in sea water and immediately frozen
after boiling. You can distinguish boiled shrimp from raw one by the tail, boiled shrimp
curls, and raw tail is straight. But here it is important to know that northern shrimp
are supplied to Russia only boiled-frozen, and such a straight tail is a sign that the
shrimp was already cooked dead. The North Atlantic and Arctic Ocean are home
to some of the world's finest seafood, the northern pink shrimp. They live at depths
ranging from 20 to 1330 meters. They keep on soft and silty soils, in sea water with
temperatures from 0 ° C to +14 ° C and salinity of 33-34 ppm. At a depth of up to three hundred
meters, shrimp form clusters. Northern pink shrimp are distributed in the Atlantic Ocean
from the coast of New England, Canada, to the east coast of Greenland and Iceland. They
live in the waters of Svalbard and Norway. They are also found in the North Sea up to
the English Channel. Due to the cold environment, cold water shrimp
grow extremely slowly. Northern pink shrimp have adapted to swimming in the water column.
Interestingly, cold water shrimp can only reproduce in their natural environment and
do not lend themselves to artificial cultivation. Crustaceans feed only on environmentally friendly
plankton, which determines the high quality and value of their meat. The shrimp has a
long body, laterally compressed, consisting of two sections - the cephalothorax and abdomen.
The cephalothorax is long, almost as long as half the length of the body. There is one
pair of eyes in the depressions of the elongated nasal process. Shrimps in the water slowly
touch their limbs, such movements are not like swimming. Frightened crustaceans make
a quick jump with the help of sharp bending of a strong wide caudal fin.
All over the world, shrimp are a very valuable fishing object. More than 3.5 million tons
of these crustaceans are caught annually in the seas and oceans. And this is about 16%
of the total value of world exports of fish products.
Unlike thermophilic farmed shrimps, such as tiger shrimps, which mature in 4-5 months,
northern shrimps reach maturity in 6-8 years. Depending on the depth of shrimp habitation,
there are coastal and deep-sea fishing methods. Offshore mining is technically simpler. However,
it is of poor quality. It accounts for 43 percent of the total catch
quota. Fishing is carried out from boats or small trawlers using trawling. This method
of catching shrimp is most effective due to its versatility. This method uses a tapered
mesh. Its deployment is supported by large metal plates called trawl doors. Vertically,
the net is held by weights suspended from the lower pick and floats suspended from the
upper pick. The net is lowered to the seabed and trawling is carried out, as a result of
which shrimps fall into it. In order to prevent non-target prey from entering the net, it
is equipped with dividing grids and evacuation panels so that large fish are removed and
removed from the trawl. This allows you to catch only shrimp.
After two to four hours of trawling, the nets slowly climb onto the vessel. The time comes
to unload the trawl, which weighs between six and eleven tons. The caught shrimp are
immediately sorted and placed in ice boxes in the cargo hold. It is important to store
them at 0 degrees Celsius to keep them fresh. The shrimp caught on the ship is no longer
processed in any way, unlike deep-sea fishing. They go ashore and there they are boiled and
frozen. However, during transportation, most crustaceans die, which, naturally, negatively
affects their taste and appearance. In addition, many shrimps, such as the Pandalus species,
prefer different depths depending on their age. And in the coastal waters live mainly
young individuals that have not reached the "marketable" size.
Unlike coastal mining, deep-sea mining is more complex and expensive. Marine shrimp
are fished away from land in areas where the weather can be very harsh. About 70% of the
catch is caught in Canada and Greenland. Therefore, in these conditions, shrimp fishing requires
reliable ice-class fishing trawlers that can be at sea for several weeks in a row.
For example, the fishing trawler "Akamalik", the home port of which is the city of Sisimiut
in Greenland. It is not only a fishing boat and an excellent icebreaker, but also an efficient
floating factory. Its main task is the commercial catch of shrimp and filling their holds. When
the trawler "Akamalik" arrives at the port with full catch holds, it is always good news
for local residents, because their economy is based on shrimps. The crew of the fishing
vessel includes a mix of Enuit fishermen from Greenland and sailors from the Faroe Islands.
A trained crew of 25 experienced workers ensure the fishing trawler operates smoothly around
the clock. At the same time, compliance with all requirements for safety and product quality
is ensured. The amount written on the check always depends
on the size of the catch, so this is the only thing that motivates people to take risks
when fishing in cold waters. All of Greenland is counting on them.
The fishermen on the trawler Akamalik have three nets at their disposal. Two are regularly
used, and one is in reserve. Each weighs about one ton and costs about $ 200,000. But this
money immediately pays off, as one catch brings in about $ 45,000. To search for shrimp, the
captain of the trawler uses an echo sounder and echo sounder (sonar).
Trawl doors are located in the stern, each of which weighs about 7 tons. They keep their
nets open like a giant windsock so that shrimp can easily get inside the gear. Powerful slabs,
connected to each other by an 8-ton sinker with the help of water currents, stretch the
net 70 meters from each side. The trawl boards are attached to the winch cable with powerful
clamps. Failure of the staple is fraught with the loss of the net with the catch.
Fishing nets are thrown out at a low vessel speed of 2 knots. Special sensors are attached
to them, which give information about how many shrimp have fallen into the net, and
what is the distance between the net and the ocean floor.
When the nets descend almost to the bottom, the trawler picks up the trawling speed up
to 5 knots. The net is adjustable in depth. Fishing in ice is expensive as it burns twice
as much fuel as in the open sea. Each day of the trawler's journey costs the owners
$ 27,000. An echo sounder is installed at the top of the net to make it easier to navigate
the ocean floor. The main part of the network contains sensors that determine its tension,
which increases as it fills. Trawling takes up to 5 hours. After filling,
the most dangerous work begins - lifting the nets. Five-meter waves crash directly onto
the deck and create a slippery surface. First, the trawl doors and weights are lifted. After
that, the captain turns on powerful winches, which simultaneously lift the nets on board.
After the nets are lifted to the aft deck, workers open them and several tons of shrimp
are immediately transferred to an intermediate seawater tank to keep them fresh. The conveyor
belt pulls the shrimp through the sorting apparatus, they slip through it, and any fish
that comes across are screened out and thrown overboard. Then workers manually remove all
stones and other foreign objects. The conveyor is 1.5 km long and has a capacity of 80 tons
per day. First, the catch is estimated. More than half
of the shrimp are large here, which means that the ship owner will get a good price
for them. Large individuals will bring in two to three times more profit than small
ones. The catch is sorted by size. Small shrimps fall through the narrow holes at the top.
Large shrimp, usually destined for
the Japanese market, slip through the large holes at the end of the sorter.
Still raw, they go to weighing and packing. Boxes are printed, marked and sealed tightly.
Then they are placed in the freezer for 3 hours so that the temperature of
the shrimp reaches minus 18 degrees Celsius. Then the packages are removed and stacked
in cardboard boxes, several pieces at a time, and sealed. This is a very rational process.
Incredible though it is, it takes place right in the sea above the Arctic Circle, minutes
later, as the shrimps are taken out of the water on board the trawler "Akamalik".
The fishing vessel easily goes through the ice, the nets are lowered 6 times a day, and
the shrimp processing factory works without interruption. The last catch consisted of
small shrimp, called industrial shrimp. They are used in semi-finished and prepared shrimp
salads. They are moved through a large refrigerator and then packed in large bags. At the port,
these bags will be sent to the factory for cleaning, cooking and freezing.
Another type of product is also produced on board the trawler - ready-made shrimp. They
fall off the conveyor belt into a tipping tank. After filling, it automatically turns
over and the seafood goes into a vat of boiling water. Here the shrimps are boiled for 5 minutes
before being frozen and packed. The shrimp fishery brings in about $ 1,000,000
on average. Upon arrival at the port of the trawler "Akamalik", port movers unload boxes
of shrimp and load them onto transport ships that deliver the goods to the markets of Europe
and Asia. And the ice-class fishing trawler "Akamalik", having replenished its supplies,
will again go to the ocean to repeat the difficult operation.