Fish sorting line
18 tonnes of fish per hour, sorted to an accuracy of 10 grams
The Customer
The Flemish Fish Auction operates the two fish auctions in Zeebrugge and Ostend. Together they form one of the largest fish auctions in Europe, with an annual turnover of more than 65 million euros. Every Monday, Wednesday and Friday, fresh fish directly from the Belgian fishing fleet is auctioned here.
The Challenge
Fish arriving fresh from the fishing fleet must be sorted by weight before the auction can start. Dover sole alone is sold in 10 different weight categories. With the large volumes arriving daily, manual sorting was no longer feasible. Added to this was a logistical problem: hundreds of bins of fish had to be unstacked, processed and stacked again every day. The auction needed more capacity, without sacrificing accuracy.
The machine in action
The solution
SMO built two complete fish sorting lines, each consisting of three parts:
Tipping system: Bins of fish are automatically unstacked and tipped out into a hopper. Empty trays are re-stacked via nesting to reduce their space.
Distribution belt: A lifting belt and vibrating screen remove the ice. Operators lay the fish head to tail ready for weighing.
Grading machine: A high-speed weigher measures each fish to the nearest 10 grams. Software automatically sorts the fish into 10 weight classes.
Technical Specifications
- Type Complete fish sorting line
- Capacity 18 tonnes per hour
- Accuracy 10 g
- Weight classes 10
- Number of lines 2 (new build) + 1 (relocation)
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