topshell Boiled frozen topshell meat represents a significant share in our production and export.

The Black Sea topshell is known by several synonymous taxonomic names Rapana thomasiana (Crosse, 1861) Rapana venosa (Valenciennes, 1864), Rapana bezoar (Linnaeus, 1758), Rapana pontica (Nordsieck, 1969). Its common names areL veined rapa whelk, asian rapa whelk, rapa whelk, Thomas's whelk, Rapana conch.

Production of frozen boiled topshell meat follows a traditional technology.

Raw product is steamed/boiled in an open autoclave at a temperature of ~105 °C for a period of 4—6 minutes, depending on the size of the shells. After steaming, the product undergoes the following operations:

  1. Shock water cooling;
  2. Meat extraction;
  3. Cleaning of the meat — evisceration;
  4. Machine washing;
  5. Size grading, inspection;
  6. Disinfection;
  7. Washing and draining;
  8. Weighing and packing in polybags;
  9. Freezing in horizontal plate freezers at –35 °C;
  10. Packing in cartons, two 8 kg blocks in PET bags per carton, 16 kg net weight per carton.

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Imported species, among others, include

  1. Atlantic mackerel (Scomber scombrus), frozen, whole round;
  2. Pacific hake (Merluccius productus), frozen, headed, gutted, tail-off;
  3. Pacific saury (Collolabis saira), frozen, whole round;
  4. Short finned squid (Illex illecibrosus), frozen, whole round and tubes.