Not much ice fishing in our region. But an ice pick certainly sounds like a useful implement to do ikijime with.

its a quick process. These short clips will comprise part of a code of practice. We will probably do a video tying them all together at some stage.

Brain spiking is scientifically proven to improve fillet quality, by minimising lactic acid build up and a whole range of other measurable biochemical parameters. Sometimes you can even see the difference - for example, kzbin.info/www/bejne/p6DGfHWmbZaqndE

Yes, what you describe is certainly OK, however its important to reiterate that the critical part of the process when it comes to fish welfare is the destruction of the brain first prior to bleeding. So the order is catch, ikijime, bleed out then ice.

Yes, but as I have said below several times, once the fish is dead what you do to it after the brain spike is irrelevant from the point of view of welfare. Feel free to wire the spinal cord if you want the ultimate in flesh quality, but we didn't show that as we want new people to try this for fish welfare - we don't want to make the process seem more difficult or complex than it needs to be.

@@ikijime oh yeah definitely, just would've been nice to have a mention of it, as many people arent even aware that you can increase the storage time that signifanctly, too. For the fish it won't make a difference, no.

Yes, this method can be used for all types of fish.

@@ikijime ok, thanks for the quick response

all ikijime tools need to be pretty sharp, for example, the ikipik theikipik.com/

and the ikigun www.ikigun.com/

I am planning to ship live 100grams size prawns in 8-10hours shipping time via air and wondering if you have done successfully?

No, we were sedating them to sample them for disease testing.

Ikijime is the brain spiking process. Once the brain is destroyed the fish is humanely killed, and the benefits to fish welfare have been achieved. The subsequent bleeding and icing can be done in various ways and to be truthful, the correct arteries to cut to maximise bleeding will vary from species to species, but all fish have a ventral aorta to the gills where blood pressure is highest so that is what we showed. Cutting caudal vein is fine for tunas, but not necessarily best for other species, while you can wire the spinal chord if you want, but this is really unnecessary for most intents and purposes. Feel free to wire the spinal cord if you want the ultimate in flesh quality, but we didn't show that as we want new people to try this for fish welfare - we don't want to make the process seem more difficult or complex than it needs to be.

The ventral aorta runs from the heart along the isthmus (the "throat latch", or bit under the bottom of the head between the opercula) to the base of the gills , so cutting straight across the throat cuts the main artery from the heart at a location where blood pressure is highest, so its the fastest way to bleed a fish out.

Yes, some people use the wire but is not necessary to kill the fish, destroying the brain does that by itself without any other process needed. However, running the wire down the spinal chord does kill the nerves innervating the swimming muscles, which stops the post mortem shivering which can occur in some species like tunas. This is the sort of detail that ensures a fish will get the maximum price on the japanese sashimi market, but it is an unnecessary complication for scenarios where fish are used for home consumption. Feel free to do the wire thing for a marginal improvement in flesh quality (bleeding and icing will give the major improvements), but the wire down the spinal chord won't improve fish welfare as its already dead once you destroy the brain by iki jime.

@@ikijime awesome thanks for replying

No. The heart still pumps for a while even after the brain is destroyed, as it has intrinsic electrical impulses that control its contraction. Destroy the brain, then bleed, in that order is best practice for this reason - fillet quality does not suffer at all doing it this way.

@@ikijime Thank You for clearing that up.I remember as a kid,my Uncle killed/cleaned a Snapping Turtle I had caught by the creek.He left the innards on a cleaning stump.I thought it was amazing that the heart beat for several days after it was killed.Guess the same goes for Tuna....

@@Bowtie41 Strong natural selection to drive the heart beat intrinsically, otherwise we'd die every time we forgot to beat it.

pretty sure we did - e,g, see 3.10 in the video. But yes, bleeding out prior to placing in the ice slurry is important to maximise flesh quality.

@@ikijime But doesn't your video show you bleeding the fish out while being placed into the slurry and not prior?

@@papikorabase No, the bleeding is done first (usually into a separate bucket), then into the slurry. So the order is catch fish, ikijime, bleed, then slurry.

yes, see www.ikijime.com/fish/bluegill/, www.ikijime.com/fish/largemouth-bass/, www.ikijime.com/fish/bass-smallmouth/

Hi Steven, after ikijime, you usually bleed the fish in a bucket for a few minutes before placing in the ice slurry. Ice slurries get the temperature down to 0°C /32°F only - the fish does not freeze, so they can be filleted afterwards OK.

Thanks!!! That clears things up for me

Usually one where one eats the other.

Yes, but as I have said below several times, once the fish is dead what you do to it after the brain spike is irrelevant from the point of view of welfare. Feel free to wire the spinal cord if you want the ultimate in flesh quality, but we didn't show that as we want new people to try this for fish welfare - we don't want to make the process seem more difficult or complex than it needs to be.

Where is your evidence ? The science suggests crustaceans do not have cold receptors bio.biologists.org/content/early/2015/02/20/bio.20149654 and that slurries are a fast and humane way to slow them down. www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/30231519As mentioned before, placing crabs in the freezer as is usually advocated takes much longer and entails long periods of air exposure. This is 10 times faster than freezing, and speed of induction into sedation is a hallmark of good welfare.

There is certainly plenty of evidence to suggest what fish experience is nothing like what humans feel. For more, see www.researchgate.net/publication/245032250_Can_fish_really_feel_pain and academic.oup.com/icesjms/article/76/1/82/5037898

That was a spike developed by the Aqui-S company, to use on salmon . They have customised the spike to suit salmon anatomy. For more see www.aqui-s.com/iki-jime

Thanks

As long as the fish is ikijimed immediately and placed in an ice slurry, no real reason why you can't leave the guts in until the next day - though ideally you don't want to keep the fish in the ice slurry for longer than necessary because of osmotic issues, after 10-12 hours in ice slurry you should be looking to try to get the fish into a dry environment like a fridge or freezer, if you have the option to do so.

That is why the ikijime website and phone apps were developed, so you learn about the brain location and DON'T miss the brain....

Sorry, not at the moment. What part of the world are you in ? We would love to work in with more universities or governments around the world in order to get this anatomical information out for more species of fish to help more people.