AU2020201650A1

AU2020201650A1 - Live crustacean transport system and method

Info

Publication number: AU2020201650A1
Application number: AU2020201650A
Authority: AU
Inventors: Jack Cheng-Hung Lee; Mark Mu-Tsai Lee
Original assignee: Lee Mu Tsai Invest Pty Ltd
Current assignee: Lee Mu Tsai Investment Pty Ltd
Priority date: 2020-03-05
Filing date: 2020-03-05
Publication date: 2021-09-23

Abstract

A crustacean transportation container comprising: a lidless box formed from an insulating material; a waterproof liner bag to provide an internal lining to the box, said lining being substantially air-impermeable and adapted to be sealed in an airtight manner; at least one portion of a pre-wetted hygroscopic material adapted to retain a predetermined humidity level within the lining when sealed; at least one cage adapted to be received by the box and adapted to contain a plurality of live crustaceans; and a box lid adapted to thermally seal the box. 4/8 10 16 18 12 14 Figure 4

Description

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LIVE CRUSTACEAN TRANSPORT SYSTEM AND METHOD

Technical Field

[0001] The present invention is directed to methods for packaging and transporting live crustaceans for easy handling, holding and transportation.

[0002] The invention has been developed primarily for use in methods and systems for packaging and transporting live crustaceans, such as crabs and crayfish, particularly blue swimmer crabs, sand crabs, spanner crab, yabby, redclaw and marron in a waterless environment and will be described hereinafter with reference to this application. However, it will be appreciated that the invention is not limited to this particular field of use.

Background

[0003] Any discussion of the background art throughout the specification should in no way be considered as an admission that such background art is prior art, nor that such background art is widely known or forms part of the common general knowledge in the field in Australia or worldwide.

[0004] All references, including any patents or patent applications, cited in this specification are hereby incorporated by reference. No admission is made that any reference constitutes prior art. The discussion of the references states what their authors assert, and the applicants reserve the right to challenge the accuracy and pertinence of the cited documents. It will be clearly understood that, although a number of prior art publications are referred to herein, this reference does not constitute an admission that any of these documents forms part of the common general knowledge in the art, in Australia or in any other country.

[0005] Crustaceans form a very large group of arthropods. They have an exoskeleton, and many are free-living aquatic animals. Examples include crabs, lobsters, crayfish and shrimp. They are popular foods for consumption in Australia and the rest of the world.

[0006] One specific discussed herein is the crab and crayfish. They are decapod crustaceans of the infra order Brachyura. Typically, they are covered with a thick exoskeleton, and have a single pair of claws. They live in oceans, fresh water, and on land.

[0007] To satisfy the commercial demand for crabs and crayfish, they are either wild caught or farmed. Crayfish farms commonly occupy a significant land footprint and are consequently typically not located in major cities due to the cost of land. From a fishing vessel or farm, crabs and crayfish are typically transported in bulk (of the order of 500kg to 700kg) in specially designed large specifically designed containers. An example of such a container and associated transportation method can be seen in Australian patent application AU2015213390, the entire contents of which are hereby incorporated by reference. This type of transportation lends itself to transportation to fish markets and other high volume places for crustacean sales.

[0008] This sort of transportation is typically done using large pallets and overland freight which can take several days to get to the intended destination. This does not economically justify the transportation of a smaller number of products, to, for example, an individual restaurant or residence.

[0009] Crabs and crayfish are extremely susceptible to damage to their limbs. As such, the limbs may become injured or detached when the crabs' legs protrude from a container the crab is transported in.

[0010] As with many aquatic creatures, crabs and crayfish breathe through gills. Although they are able to survive for short periods outside of water, gills are poor at taking up enough oxygen from the air and at expelling the waste gases carbon dioxide and ammonia. Thus crustaceans, such as crabs and crayfish, find it difficult to stay alive when they are not in water for extended time periods as their gills clump together when exposed to air and breathing becomes difficult. Consequently, when exposed to air and deprived of water, crabs and crayfish suffer from shortage of oxygen. In addition, waste substances such as ammonia build up in the blood of the crustaceans. When the waste levels build up in the blood they can have serious harmful effects. Thus, prolonged exposure to air can have an adverse effect on the physical and mental health of the crustacean and can even be fatal.

[0011] As such, transportation of crabs, particularly for transports expected to take more than a day, involves the use of water. Depending on the crab, this may be fresh water or saltwater. Ideally for the transport of saltwater crustaceans, the salinity of the water should, as close as possible, replicate the salinity found in the crab's natural habitat. On the other hand, crayfish are generally more robust and can be transported out of water for a longer period, though its overall health can still be compromised.

[0012] For crabs, the water used to ensure safe transport to of the crustaceans is very heavy and adds a significant weight component to the delivery vehicle, thus increasing the load weight of the transport vehicle. This additional weight adversely affects the possible dry weight of crustacean able to be delivered and further complicates the manual handling of the transport containers. In addition, as discussed above, the quality of the water is also important.

[0013] Stress, injury and especially death during transport, can significantly affect the yield of the live product shipment which in turn has an impact on the commercial value of the shipment.

[0014] There is currently no commercially viable method to package live crabs in small amounts. For crayfish, particularly the smaller species, such as yabby and redclaw, commercial methods exist, but with low densities and high mortalities. In particular, existing packaging methods for yabby are very primitive and frequently results in mass mortality rates during shipping. The current packing method of yabby involves layering yabby on top of one another with some form of separator between each, such as the use of hessian bags. This leads to the yabby being able to nip one another, similar to the behaviour of crabs and also the bottom layer of yabby in the package tends to be compromised from being squeezed by the weight of the yabby above.

[0015] Additionally, regulatory legislation often restricts the type of crab which may be removed from their natural environment so as to responsibly maintain healthy population levels. For example, in some jurisdictions in Australia, female blue and/or sand crabs are not permitted to be wild caught. However, female crabs are in high commercial demand in some cultures thus to service this commercial demand, female crabs must be transported long distances having been farmed in less regulatory-restrictive jurisdictions. With the difficulties as discussed above with existing packaging and transport methods, transporting such high-demand crustaceans becomes commercially unviable due to high mortality rates during transport.

[0016] As such, there exists a need for a simple method to package small volumes of live crustaceans, such as crabs and crayfish, so that they can be transported quickly and economically using common transportation methods such as air freight.

[0017] There is also a need for methods to increase the viable time that live crustaceans, such as crabs, may be stored in transport containers to be able to increase the transport range of the crab whilst keeping mortality rates low and within acceptable economic limits.

Summary

[0018] It is an object of the present invention to overcome or ameliorate at least one or more of the disadvantages of the prior art, or to provide a useful alternative.

[0019] Throughout this specification, unless the context requires otherwise, the words "comprise", "comprises" and "comprising" will be understood to imply the inclusion of a stated step or element or group of steps or elements but not the exclusion of any other step or element or group of steps or elements.

[0020] Any one of the terms "including"or "which includes" or "that includes" as used herein is also an open term that also means including at least the elements/features that follow the term, but not excluding others. Thus, "including" is synonymous with and means "comprising".

[0021] In the claims, as well as in the summary above and the description below, all transitional phrases such as "comprising", "including", "carrying", "having", "containing", "involving", "holding", "composed of", and the like are to be understood to be open-ended, i.e. to mean "including but not limited to". Only the transitional phrases "consisting of" and "consisting essentially of" alone shall be closed or semi-closed transitional phrases, respectively.

[0022] In a first aspect of the invention, there is provided a crustacean transportation container comprising: a lidless box formed from an insulating material; a waterproof liner bag to provide an internal lining to the box, said lining being substantially air-impermeable and adapted to be sealed in an airtight manner; at least one portion of a pre-wetted hygroscopic material adapted to retain a predetermined humidity level within the lining when sealed; at least one cage adapted to be received by the box and adapted to contain a plurality of live crustaceans; and a box lid adapted to thermally seal the box.

[0023] The container may comprise a plurality of cages and a plurality of portions of a pre-wetted hygroscopic material interspersed between the plurality of cages.

[0024] The hygroscopic material may comprise wood wool.

[0025] The lining may be adapted to maintain an oxygen-enriched atmosphere within the liner when sealed. The oxygen enriched environment may comprise approximately % to 99 % oxygen.

[0026] The humidity level with the lining when sealed may be approximately above % humidity. The humidity level within the lining when sealed may be approximately above 95% humidity. The humidity level within the lining when sealed may be approximately above 98% humidity.

[0027] Each cage may be typically be adapted to contain approximately 5kg of live crustacean or less, however the cages may be adapted to contain between approximately about 1kg and 10kg or more, preferably between about 5kg and 10kg, for example, about 5, 6, 7, 8, 9 or 10kg. In alternate embodiments, the cages may be adapted for less that 5kg of live crustacean, however transporting of packages with weights less than 5kg is less efficient commercially. However, depending on a particular customer's needs, live weights less than 5kg may be desirable. The crustacean cages or packaging methods disclosed herein would not require changes and would still result in a viable packaging method for transport of live crustaceans. However, live weights less than 5kg would mean that overall, less weight can be put into the insulation container due to rigidness leading to lower efficiency of space utilisation.

[0028] In further embodiments, transport of live weights of crustacean greater than kg would be possible using the packaging systems and methods disclosed herein, however, due to the amount of crustacean that would be necessary to reach such weights in the crustacean cages may result in overcrowding in the cages which has potential to negatively impact the animals health and transport mortality rates.

[0029] The box and the lid may be formed from a thermally insulating material. The insulating material may comprise EPS.

[0030] The box may be further adapted to receive one or more ice packs. The box, when sealed, when sealed with the lid may be adapted to maintain an internal temperature of between about 50 to about 100 Celsius.

[0031] In accordance with a second aspect of the invention, there is provided method of transporting live crustaceans including the steps of: containing a plurality of live crustaceans into one or more cages; providing a lidless box formed from an insulating material; providing a waterproof liner bag to provide an internal lining to the box, said lining being substantially air-impermeable and adapted to be sealed in an airtight manner; providing a plurality of portions of a pre-wetted hygroscopic material; arranging the one or more cages of crustaceans within the lining of the box interspersed with the plurality of pre-wetted hygroscopic material; providing one or more ice packs with the lining of the box; injecting an oxygen-enriched atmosphere into the lining; sealing the internal lining in an airtight manner; and sealing the box with a thermally insulating box lid.

[0032] The method may further comprise, prior to sealing the lining, providing one or more ice packs within the lining to maintain the temperature within the sealed box to between about 50 to about 100 Celsius.

[0033] The oxygen enriched environment may comprise approximately 95% to 99% oxygen.

[0034] The pre-wetted hygroscopic material may comprise wood wool or sponge.

[0035] The pre-wetted hygroscopic material may be adapted to maintain a humidity level within the sealed lining of approximately above 95% humidity. The pre-wetted hygroscopic material may be adapted to maintain a humidity level within the sealed lining of approximately above 98% humidity.

Detailed Description

[0036] Further features of the present invention are more fully described in the following description of several non-limiting embodiments thereof. This description is included solely for the purposes of exemplifying the present invention. It should not be understood as a restriction on the broad summary, disclosure or description of the invention as set out above. The description will be made with reference to the accompanying drawings in which:

Figure 1 is a perspective view of a crustacean transportation container according to a first embodiment of the present invention;

Figure 2 is a perspective view of the transportation container of Figure 1 including a water storage and provision medium;

Figure 3 is a perspective view of the transportation container of Figure 2 including a crustacean cage;

Figure 4 is a perspective view of the transportation container of Figure 3 including additional water storage and provision medium;

Figure 5 is a perspective view of the transportation container of Figure 4 including an additional crustacean cage;

Figure 6 is a perspective view of the transportation container of Figure 5;

Figure 7 is a perspective view of the transportation container of Figure 6; and

Figure 8 is a perspective view of the transportation container of Figure 6.

[0037] In the drawings like structures are referred to by like numerals throughout the several views. The drawings shown are not necessarily to scale, with emphasis instead generally being placed upon illustrating the principles of the present invention.

Description of Embodiments

[0038] Broadly, the present invention relates to a storage container for the transportation of between 1kg and 40kg of live crustaceans. The methods disclosed herein relate to transport methods for live crustaceans including particularly blue swimmer crab, sand crab, spanner crab, yabby, redclaw or marron in a waterless environment.

[0039] Presently available methods relating to storage of live crustaceans allow for their storage in a sealed water-filled environment for up to a maximum of approximately hours. There are many destinations that cannot be reached within this timeframe. Alternatively, presently available methods for packaging the live crustacean in a water-less or air-filled container to increase the ease of handling and the dry weight of live crustacean able to be transported, dramatically reduces the maximum storage time to approximately 3-4 hours thus putting many destinations beyond reach, practically limiting the delivery range to local pickup customers of the farm. A method that allows for storage of live crustaceans significantly longer than 3-4 hours is thus highly desirable.

[0040] Transportation of crustaceans in a waterless environment presents a number of challenges. Due to their aquatic nature, crustaceans are very susceptible to dehydration. Crabs and crayfish breathe through gills. For gills to work, they must be able to take in oxygen and transport it into the animal's bloodstream. The oxygen that crabs need is taken into the gills either through water or moisture in the air. Crabs must keep their gills moist to maintain the function of the gills. Thus, packaging of live crabs or crayfish for transportation must maintain their ability to extract oxygen from the surrounding air whilst keeping their gills moist.

[0041] Referring to the Figures, the presently disclosed method for packaging of live crabs and crayfish for transportation involves sealing the crabs or crayfish in a cooled and moist airtight environment having a high oxygen (02) concentration. Cooling of the packaging assists in preventing dehydration of the crabs. Preferably, the packaging environment is maintained at a temperature of between about 50 to about 100 Celsius.

[0042] Referring to Figure 1, there is depicted a package 10 including a box 12 and an internal lining 14 preferably comprising a heavy plastic material which is not air permeable. Box 12 is preferably formed from an insulating material such as a foam box and may be formed of Expanded Polystyrene (EPS) or similar material. Figure 2 depicts a first layer of a pre-wetted hygroscopic material 16 adapted to retain moisture added to package 10 in a layer at the base of lined box 12. A particular example of a suitable hygroscopic material 16 is wood wool. Wood wool is used because the lobster export industry has been using this material for a number of years, so their properties are established in the industry. Wood wool materials are also cheap, environmentally friendly and hold moisture well. An alternative material which may be substituted for wood wool is foam sponge. Foam sponge is superior to wood wool in terms of moisture absorbing and keeping the internal package environment moist, but typically is a lot more expensive. Alternatively, still, the moisture-retaining material used in the packaging may include paper, or hessian materials and the like, however, it was found that wood wool provided adequate moisture-retaining properties and provided an economical solution.

[0043] Figure 3 depicts a first crustacean cage 18 placed on top of pre-wetted wood wool layer 16. Crustacean cage 18 is adapted to hold approximately 5kg by weight of live crustacean livestock (although the cage may be readily adapted to weights of between about 1 to 10kg or more). As seen in Figure 4 a second layer of hygroscopic material (wood wool) 16 is placed atop first crustacean cage 18.

[0044] As can be seen in Figure 5, the process is repeated and a second crustacean cage 18, also adapted to retain approximately 5kg by weight of live crustacean (although the cage may be readily adapted to weights of between about 1 to 10kg or more), is placed atop second wood wool layer and a further layer of pre-wetted hygroscopic material (wood wool) 16 is placed atop the second crustacean cage 18.

[0045] As depicted in Figure 6, the inner lining 14 is drawn around the crustacean cages 18 and pre-wetted wood wool 16 and sealed so will as to provide an airtight packaging for crustacean cages 18. Once sealed, an oxygen-rich gas is injected into lining 14 to maximise the oxygen concentration within the sealed lining. Preferably, the oxygen concentration within the sealed lining 14 is between approximately 95% and 99% pure oxygen. The pre-wetted wood wool acts to maintain a high humidity environment within the sealed lining of above 90% humidity, preferably above 95%, and more preferably above 98% humidity such that the lungs of the packaged crustaceans do not dry out during transit.

[0046] One or more ice packs are then placed around the sealed lining to maintain a cool environment within box 12 thereby to regulate the temperature of the crustaceans during transport.

[0047] Finally, as shown in Figures 7 and 8 a lid placed on box 12 to seal the box for transport. Lid 13 is also preferably formed from an insulating material such as EPS.

[0048] In accordance with the packaging method described above the inclusion of pre-wetted hygroscopic material such as wood wool within the packaging maintains a moist environment for the crustaceans whilst packaged this to maintain the functionality of the crustaceans gills during transport whereas the high oxygen concentration within the sealed packaging also assists in crustaceans ability to oxygen through their gills into their bloodstream to minimise crustacean mortality rates during transport.

Variations and Modifications

[0049] Modifications and variations such as would be apparent to the skilled addressee are considered to fall within the scope of the present invention. The present invention is not to be limited in scope by any of the specific embodiments described herein. These embodiments are intended for the purpose of exemplification only. Functionally equivalent products, formulations and methods are clearly within the scope of the invention as described herein.

[0050] Reference to positional descriptions, such as lower and upper, are to be taken in context of the embodiments depicted in the Figures and are not to be taken as limiting the invention to the literal interpretation of the term but rather as would be understood by the skilled addressee.

[0051] Also, future patent applications may be filed in Australia or overseas on the basis of, or claiming priority from, the present application. It is to be understood that the following provisional claims are provided by way of example only and are not intended to limit the scope of what may be claimed in any such future application. Features may be added to or omitted from the provisional claims at a later date so as to further define or re-define the invention or inventions.

Claims

THE CLAIMS DEFINING THE INVENTION ARE AS FOLLOWS:

1. A crustacean transportation container comprising: a lidless box formed from an insulating material; a waterproof liner bag to provide an internal lining to the box, said lining being substantially air-impermeable and adapted to be sealed in an airtight manner; at least one portion of a pre-wetted hygroscopic material adapted to retain a predetermined humidity level within the lining when sealed; at least one cage adapted to be received by the box and adapted to contain a plurality of live crustaceans; and a box lid adapted to thermally seal the box.

2. A crustacean transportation container as claimed in Claim 1, comprising a plurality of cages and a plurality of portions of a pre-wetted hygroscopic material interspersed between the plurality of cages.

3. A crustacean transportation container as claimed in any one of the preceding claims, wherein the hygroscopic material comprises wood wool.

4. A crustacean transportation container as claimed in any one of the preceding claims, wherein the lining is adapted to maintain an oxygen-enriched atmosphere within the liner when sealed.

5. A crustacean transportation container as claimed in Claim 4, wherein the oxygen enriched environment comprises approximately 95% to 99 % oxygen.

6. A crustacean transportation container as claimed in any one of the preceding claims, wherein the humidity level with the lining when sealed is approximately above % humidity.

7. A crustacean transportation container as claimed in Claim 6, wherein the humidity level with the lining when sealed is approximately above 95% humidity.

8. A crustacean transportation container as claimed in Claim 7, wherein the humidity level with the lining when sealed is approximately above 98% humidity.

9. A crustacean transportation container as claimed in any one of the preceding claims, wherein each cage is adapted to contain approximately 1 to 10kg of live crustacean or less.

10. A crustacean transportation container as claimed in any one of the preceding claims, wherein the box and the lid are formed from a thermally insulating material.

11. A crustacean transportation container as claimed in Claim 10, wherein the insulating material comprises EPS.

12. A crustacean transportation container as claimed in any one of the preceding claims, wherein the box is further adapted to receive one or more ice packs.

13. A crustacean transportation container as claimed in Claim 12, wherein the box, when sealed with the lid is adapted to maintain an internal temperature of between about 50 to about 100 Celsius.

14. A method of transporting live crustaceans including the steps of: containing a plurality of live crustaceans into one or more baskets; providing a lidless box formed from an insulating material; providing a waterproof liner bag to provide an internal lining to the box, said lining being substantially air-impermeable and adapted to be sealed in an airtight manner; providing a plurality of portions of a pre-wetted hygroscopic material; arranging the one or more cages of crustaceans within the lining of the box interspersed with the plurality of pre-wetted hygroscopic material; providing one or more ice packs with the lining of the box; injecting an oxygen-enriched atmosphere into the lining; sealing the internal lining in an airtight manner; and sealing the box with a thermally insulating box lid.

15. The method of Claim 14, wherein the bottom layer crustaceans are placed upside down to prevent their legs protruding from the said cages thereby to reduce the likelihood of the crustaceans' legs being damaged from the immediate surrounding environment.

16. The method of either Claim 14 or Claim 15, further comprising, prior to sealing the lining, providing one or more ice packs within the lining to maintain the temperature within the sealed box to between about 50 to about 100 Celsius.

17. The method of any one of Claims 14 to 15, wherein the oxygen enriched environment comprises approximately 95% to 99 % oxygen.

18. The method of any one of Claims 14 to 17, wherein the pre-wetted hygroscopic material comprises wood wool.

19. The method of any one of Claims 14 to 18, wherein the pre-wetted hygroscopic material is adapted to maintain a humidity level within the sealed lining of approximately above 95% humidity.

20. The method of any one of Claims 14 to 18, wherein the pre-wetted hygroscopic material is adapted to maintain a humidity level within the sealed lining of approximately above 98% humidity.

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