Hi everyone,

Some people like to leave fish in the slurry or in the fridge over night before filleting as they firm up a little.You could try that.

We no longer use ice or slurry..
We gut then bin...
throw any other meat into a slurry of any kind and goes .. strange..
 Comms use ice.. not slurry....
Fish bars shops use ice, not slurry...

We now use frozen ice pack block.. several sizes...
 large stay at the bottom, smaller get put into gut cavity, and they get lifted up through the pile of fish, so not just the fish in the bottom (slurry ) get cooled off.
In saying that , the last fish in the bin, is generally dropped in and left ...
 still not fully chilled as its the 1st on the fillet board and definitely softer than those below... If happens to be a cod or similar species, yes could be described as  "mushy"  espec when compared to the fish below chilled right off.

 Also gutting out makes big difference to the flesh
 Maybe because chills faster, or nothing to contaminate the flesh, or leak into slurry , contaminating that, or maybe because the filleting boards are clean from start to finish.
 Or a combination of some or all of the above.

 We started off some yrs back with ice, and ice slurry, not gutting , moved to frozen lager salt ice blocks, then containers... then gutting,  now the ice packs
 Noting all the way the  +ve change in the fish taste, textures etc
 And dont need to buy ice, or ever forget to...

Steps wrote: We no longer use ice or slurry.. We gut then bin... throw any other meat into a slurry of any kind and goes .. strange..  Comms use ice.. not slurry.... Fish bars shops use ice, not slurry... We now use frozen ice pack block.. several sizes...  large stay at the bottom, smaller get put into gut cavity, and they get lifted up through the pile of fish, so not just the fish in the bottom (slurry ) get cooled off. In saying that , the last fish in the bin, is generally dropped in and left ...  still not fully chilled as its the 1st on the fillet board and definitely softer than those below... If happens to be a cod or similar species, yes could be described as  "mushy"  espec when compared to the fish below chilled right off.  Also gutting out makes big difference to the flesh  Maybe because chills faster, or nothing to contaminate the flesh, or leak into slurry , contaminating that, or maybe because the filleting boards are clean from start to finish.  Or a combination of some or all of the above.  We started off some yrs back with ice, and ice slurry, not gutting , moved to frozen lager salt ice blocks, then containers... then gutting,  now the ice packs  Noting all the way the  +ve change in the fish taste, textures etc  And dont need to buy ice, or ever forget to...

Some good advice there Steps. Been freezing sea water in containers for years, never bought ice. Big fish on top will squash the smaller snaps or cod size fish if you leave them in the bottom of bin, which deteriorates the fillets quicker. Don't like leaving the filleting past six hours once home as have found the mush effect starts. Going to try your theory of gutting before binning Steps, good idea! 

Have tried leaving sea ice in bag and placing fish around,tried open bag and tipping ice over fish and also slurry.

Steps wrote: We no longer use ice or slurry.. We gut then bin... throw any other meat into a slurry of any kind and goes .. strange..  Comms use ice.. not slurry.... Fish bars shops use ice, not slurry... We now use frozen ice pack block.. several sizes...  large stay at the bottom, smaller get put into gut cavity, and they get lifted up through the pile of fish, so not just the fish in the bottom (slurry ) get cooled off. In saying that , the last fish in the bin, is generally dropped in and left ...  still not fully chilled as its the 1st on the fillet board and definitely softer than those below... If happens to be a cod or similar species, yes could be described as  "mushy"  espec when compared to the fish below chilled right off.  Also gutting out makes big difference to the flesh  Maybe because chills faster, or nothing to contaminate the flesh, or leak into slurry , contaminating that, or maybe because the filleting boards are clean from start to finish.  Or a combination of some or all of the above.  We started off some yrs back with ice, and ice slurry, not gutting , moved to frozen lager salt ice blocks, then containers... then gutting,  now the ice packs  Noting all the way the  +ve change in the fish taste, textures etc  And dont need to buy ice, or ever forget to...

Holy crap things must have changed dramatically then, as the first thing we did on the trawler was to put the fish in a slurry, guess the skipper with 30 years experience was a dumbarse

Holy crap things must have changed dramatically then, as the first thing we did on the trawler was to put the fish in a slurry, guess the skipper with 30 years experience was a dumbarse

 Farming be it fishing cows , crops what ever, 30 yrs ago was very different to 60yrs ago, and today different to 30yrs ago.
 Rec fishing pre chilly bin and ice is very different to what we have and do today..
 Then throw in how the top end 'craft meat' catches and processes to the std bulk methods

 Doesnt make him a dumbass at at all.
 

 Then throw in how the top end 'craft meat' catches and processes to the std bulk methods

I think you will find, going from the retail end, ice is shoveled into the bins, then fish , with more ice packed around each layer.
 Reason is slurry kills the eyes, dull eyes doesnt sell at the counter or on the export market.
 When the bins hit the retailer, 12 to 24 hrs later, there is a little slurry on the bottom with the bottom fish still clear of it.
Temps and condition is monitored/logged at each step from catch, packing, shipping , receipt at the retailer, at the chiller , and also bench to the wet bin or fillet display..

Change your super market then...
Some supermarket chains work under both local body and MAF ...and you may well find those ppl who dont follow correct procedures/ documentation, its in their contract as dismissal..
 So if someone is fudging, they are doing so simply because they know they can get way with it...
Till someone who actually gives a damn reports it..

This isn't a PJC vs Steps debate and has nothing to do with supermarkets!

IMO the mushy blue cod is most likely post spawn as Cirrus suggested. Fish in poor condition have soft mushy flesh. I've seen it a lot with skinny kahawai, snapper and gurnard.