Importance

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Abstract

Apparatuses and methods for processing meat from waste body parts of fish. In one embodiment, a fish processing machine includes a primary processing line and a reclamation processing line. The primary processing line can include a first conveyor system to transport a fish trunk along a primary processing path, a first cutter at a first location along the primary processing path configured to separate a waste body part from the fish trunk, and a second cutter at a second location along the primary processing path downstream from the first cutter. The second cutter has at least one knife arranged to slice high-value meat from the trunk. The reclamation processing line is coupled to the primary processing line. The reclamation processing line can include a recovery cutter to separate an additional meat portion from the waste body part and a transfer mechanism to automatically transport the waste body part to the recovery cutter without manually manipulating the body part. The recovery cutter generally has at least one cutting blade in a cutting zone relative to a reclamation processing path, and more preferably has two blades at angle to one another. The cutting blades slice the additional meat portion from the waste body part. The transfer mechanism can comprise a receiving station proximate to the first location of the primary processing line to receive the separated waste body part, a support surface configured to orient the separated waste body part so that the additional meat portion is in the cutting zone, and a delivery station proximate to the recovery cutter to deliver the meat portion of the waste body part to the recovery cutter.

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First Claim