Tensile properties of white muscle in rested and exhausted chinook salmon (Oncorhynchus tshawytscha)

After 40 hr storage at 2 degrees C, the tensile strength of ''rested'' king salmon (Oncorhynchus tshawytscha) ''white'' muscle was 2.7 times that of the ''exhausted'' muscle with the ''rested'' muscle retaining its immediate post-capture strength. A combination of behavioral conditioning, conservative handling practices and chemical anaesthesia (AQUI-S(TM)) was used to minimize the extent of pre-mortem exercise and thereby provide ''rested'' fish. Postmortem electrical stimulation of the ''rested'' animals was used to produce ''exhausted'' muscle. This study highlights the importance of reducing pre-harvest exercise in the production of high quality fish muscle.