Abstract
Post-mortem changes in the muscle of Japanese anchovy and round herring after capture under
commercial fishing conditions of stick-held dip net fishery were evaluated by measuring the
concentrations of ATP-related compounds and rigor mortis. During the storage with ice and seawater
after capture, the sum of ATP, ADP, and AMP were decreased faster in the muscle of round herring
than those in the muscle of Japanese anchovy. K-values changed 0–4.6% and 0.1–4.2% for 6 hours after
capture in Japanese anchovy and round herring, respectively. It was found that the onset of rigor mortis
in Japanese anchovy was slower than that in round herring. The effect of resting period after capture on
recovery of ATP concentration in the muscle of Japanese anchovy was examined by a modelling
experiment. The ATP concentrations in the muscle from 1.1 hours to 72.2 hours of the recovery period
were significantly lower than those before inducing the stress. The ATP concentrations were tended to
recover at 96.2 hours of the resting period.
