Crispy fried catfish skin with salted egg seasoning or better known as ‘Fish Skin Salted Egg’ has become a popular snack in Indonesia.
Along with the increasing demand for this product, the need for raw material for catfish skin is also increasing, which initially only utilises the by-product of processing fish fillets.
For this reason, fish skin peelers are crucial in the fish processing industry in order to produce the same high quality meat and skin fillets. Based on this requirement, the Center for Testing and Application of Marine and Fishery Products (BBP3KP), and UPT Directorate General of Strengthening the Competitiveness of Marine and Fishery Products (PDSPKP) of the Ministry of Maritime Affairs and Fisheries (KKP) have made an innovation (scale-up) for fish skin peelers that are more efficient (in power-use) while ensuring greater productivity for manufacturers.
Director General of PDSPKP, Artati Widiarti said, “The scale-up BBP3KP fish peeler has advantages in increasing production capacity, is easy to operate, safe for food products and saves electricity.” Artati added that the scale-up will make Indonesian businesses more competitive.
Head of BBP3KP, Widya Rusyanto explained that the innovation (scale-up) in fish skin peelers emerged during the booming catfish industry in Indonesia when skin peelers were still imported from Taiwan or Japan. Since 2012, it has made innovations (scale-up) to improve the weaknesses that exist in imported equipment. For example, V-Belt drive was innovated into a chain system, while direct to motor was replaced by using a gearbox. Widya said, “The hope is that by using the gearbox, the power will be greater so that removing the skin of large catfish is relatively easier. Furthermore, modifications to the knife have been changed from the regular model to the tweezer model.”
The superiority of the fish skin peeler machine from BBP3KP was recognised by Jarot Arif, a Factory Manager of a major fish processing company, PT. Kurnia Mitra Makmur Purwakarta (KMMP), which saw its benefits in the processing of catfish, tilapia and carp fillets. From an earlier dependence on manual labor, with the machine it is able to cut-down labor operations from 3 to 1. The peeler machine also ensures cleaner operations.
Arif said, “So far, skin buyers often complain, as the KMMP catfish skin has a lot of meat, because we realise that we are still using manual technology. However, with the tool from BBP3KP, the remaining meat content is getting lesser and at times non-existent.”
The new technology is part of the Ministry of Maritime Affairs and Fisheries goal of introducing new innovations to promote an advanced and sustainable Indonesian fishing industry.
To find out more on the peeler machine, contact BBP3KP office on Jl. Raya Setu No.70 Cipayung, East Jakarta or Tel: (021) 84998429, 84997969.
