Abstract: A device for nobbing and gutting fish comprises an endless conveyor of fish troughs for receiving fish lying on their sides, cutting tools to cut into the fish closely behind their collar bones, and retention means for the fish bodies during the extraction of the intestines arranged downstream of the cutting tools. The retention means comprises a lower retention bar, rising above the bottoms of the fish troughs and an upper retention face, a gap being formed between the retention bar and the retention face. Of the retention means at least the retention face is biased to yield in a common plane of the retention face and the retention bar, so that the gap between these elements may be adapted according to varying sizes of the fish to be treated.