Fish Filleting Line — cost, specification & RFQ guide
Whole fish to trimmed fillet — grading, heading, gutting, filleting, pin-boning, trimming.
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How much does a fish filleting line cost?
- Typical machine fillet yield:
- Tilapia 30–35%, whitefish 40–48%, salmon 55–62% (species and size dependent)
- Hand-trim uplift:
- 1–3 percentage points of yield vs machine-only trim
- Labour:
- 8–25 operators per t/h depending on automation
- Water use:
- 3–8 m³ per tonne raw material
- Power:
- 80–200 kWh per tonne including freezing
Throughput and indicative CAPEX bands
Indicative equipment supply only (EXW/FOB). Building, civil works, duties and local installation are additional.
| Scale | Throughput | Indicative CAPEX | Typical scope |
|---|---|---|---|
| Artisanal / pilot | 300–1,000 kg/day | USD 25k–90k | Manual filleting tables, chiller, vacuum packer, basic ice supply. |
| Small commercial | 1–3 t/day | USD 120k–400k | Grader, heading/gutting machine, semi-auto filleting, skinner, packing. |
| Mid industrial | 3–30 t/day | USD 400k–1.8M | Automated filleting + pin-boning, portioning, IQF tunnel, CIP. |
| Large export plant | 30–200 t/day | USD 2M–12M+ | Multi-line, vision grading, robotics, full utilities and effluent plant. |
What a complete scope must cover
Reception & chilling
Live/chilled intake, slurry or flake ice, stunning and bleeding tanks, reception grader.
Primary processing
Heading, gutting, roe/viscera separation, washing. Yield is set here — insist on measured HOG yield per size grade.
Filleting & skinning
Species-matched filleting machine, skinner, pin-boning. Machines are size-window bound; confirm your grade mix fits.
Trim & portioning
Trim belts, vision portioning, weight-batching for fixed-weight retail packs.
Freezing & packing
IQF spiral or tunnel, glazing, MAP/vacuum, metal detection, checkweigher, labelling.
Utilities & hygiene
Chill water, refrigeration, CIP, compressed air, wastewater screening and DAF.
Machine, line, turnkey plant or EPC scope?
Compare offers at the same responsibility level. A low machine price is not comparable with a line that includes controls, utilities, installation and performance acceptance.
| Scope | Typically includes | Buyer retains | Use when |
|---|---|---|---|
| Single machine | One defined operation and controls | Interfaces, utilities, installation and line balance | The factory and upstream/downstream process already exist |
| Complete line | Connected process equipment, controls and throughput duty | Building, major utilities, cold store and permits unless stated | One product flow needs a measurable output guarantee |
| Turnkey plant | Line, utilities, installation, commissioning and training as contracted | Land, approvals, raw material and items expressly excluded | The buyer wants fewer package interfaces |
| EPC scope | Engineering, procurement and construction coordination under an agreed contract | Owner decisions, financing, permits and operational inputs | Civil works and multiple technical packages must be integrated |
Selection criteria
- •Guaranteed yield per species and size grade, measured at commissioning
- •Size window of each machine vs your real harvest grade distribution
- •Hygienic design standard (EHEDG, BRC/IFS-compatible, EU 852/853)
- •Spare-parts stock and mean time to on-site service in your country
- •Water, energy and effluent load per tonne — often the real OPEX gap
Costly mistakes
- •Buying line speed you will never fill — capacity should match a realistic 12-month harvest curve
- •Ignoring the size-window limit of the filleting machine versus actual harvest grades
- •Under-sizing chill water, ice and refrigeration so the line stalls at peak
- •Excluding CIP, effluent and packaging from the tender, then paying premium change-orders
Put this in your RFQ
- •Tender against t/day and product mix, not against a machine list
- •Request guaranteed yield, throughput and uptime with acceptance criteria
- •Ask for utility consumption per tonne (water, power, refrigeration)
- •Include installation, commissioning, operator training and 24-month warranty
Size it before you tender
Fish Filleting Line FAQ
Request fish filleting line quotes
Send the species, product format, peak throughput, labour plan, automation target, hygiene standard, utilities, installation boundary and cold-chain interface. FishMatch reviews the brief and seeks matched responses; timing depends on scope and supplier interest, and identities stay confidential until you approve contact.
Other processing buyer guides
Before you request quotes
Equipment scope
What equipment does a commercial aquaculture project actually need?
A grow-out project typically needs holding infrastructure (tanks, ponds or cages), water movement (pumps, piping, valves), aeration or oxygenation, water treatment appropriate to the system, feeding equipment, grading and handling gear, monitoring and alarms, and backup power. RAS adds mechanical filtration, biofiltration, degassing, disinfection and tighter process control. Hatchery and processing scopes are specified separately.
Which equipment should be specified before requesting quotes?
Specify the items whose sizing changes everything downstream: design biomass and stocking density, water exchange or recirculation rate, oxygen demand at peak temperature, and installed pumping head. With those four fixed, suppliers can quote aeration, filtration, pumps and power on the same basis. FishMatch calculators produce these figures and attach them to the RFQ.
Can equipment be sourced in stages?
Yes, and phased procurement is common. The usual sequence is water supply and holding infrastructure, then aeration and treatment, then automation and monitoring, then processing and cold chain. Staging works when interfaces and capacity headroom are defined at the start; otherwise later phases force replacement rather than addition.