Abstract: A fish processing machine has a deheading station and a finishing station at which the throat tissue of the deheaded fish is removed. These stations are located on a reciprocating carriage in conjunction with a main body conveyor, a head positioning conveyor and a hold-down conveyor which are continuously advancing and positioning the fish being processed. The finishing station has a throat cutting device including a rotating cylindrical cutting unit with teeth at the head end and a shield for the teeth which retracts to expose the teeth when a nose on the shield engages a fish responsive to advancing the device.

Abstract: A fish processing machine has a deheading station and a finishing station at which the throat tissue of the deheaded fish is removed. These stations are located on a reciprocating carriage in conjunction with a main body conveyor, a head positioning conveyor and a hold-down conveyor which are continuously advancing and positioning the fish being processed. The head positioning conveyor has head and tail sprockets and has head positioning pins which are in engagement with the heads of conveyed fish behind the deheading station. These pins are swing-mounted so that they will remain in upright position as they are withdrawn from the fish heads while passing over the front quadrant of the head sprocket before the fish heads reach the deheading station.

Abstract: A fish processing machine has a deheading station and a finishing station at which the throat tissue of the deheaded fish is removed. These stations are located on a reciprocating carriage in conjunction with a main body conveyor, a head positioning conveyor and a hold-down conveyor which are continuously advancing and positioning the fish being processed. The shuttle cycle of the carriage is controlled so that it is completed in the time period that a fish on the main conveyor advances the distance between conveyor flights.

Abstract: A crab processing machine has conveyed crab-gripping carriers which move a crab through a loading station, a measuring station, a mandible/carapace/tail removal station, a body cavity cleaning station, a gilling station, a splitting station, and a discharge station. Data accumulated at the measuring station is used to automatically control operation of a star wheel at the mandible/carapace/tail removal station, and to automatically control the location of a rotary splitting knife at the splitting station so that the cleaned crab carcass will be evenly divided.