Bleeding Tank

The Dragon is Mikra’s signature bleeding tank solution for fresh fish processing and one of our most celebrated products. Designed for both onboard and land-based operations, it helps processors achieve consistent product handling, reliable process control, and high raw material quality in a compact, robust system trusted by processors around the world.

Sufficient bleeding of fresh fish is an essential step in fish processing, helping maintain fillet whiteness and preventing bacterial growth. The Dragon has been used successfully around the world for decades, delivering high quality product to end customers and earning a reputation for robustness, reliability, and consistent performance in the most demanding production environments.

Although built as a standard product platform, each Dragon is customized in size and bleeding time to suit the specific application. The controller gives operators full control over bleeding time, batch sizes, and temperature, while easy access to areas that require cleaning ensures minimum downtime between production cycles.

What the Dragon is used for

The Dragon is used for the controlled bleeding of fresh fish after harvest or catch, where stable process conditions and gentle handling are critical to preserving raw material quality. It is suitable for both onboard vessels and onshore processing facilities, and is available in horizontal or vertical configurations depending on available floor space and layout requirements.

The vertical configuration is the newest version of the Dragon and was developed to save even more floor space onboard vessels. In this configuration, the infeed can remain on the production floor while the tank body extends through the floor down to the hold, making better use of limited vessel space without compromising process performance. Research comparing the two configurations found no significant difference in bleeding performance between them.

Key capabilities

• Ensures every fish is submerged in the bleeding medium throughout the process
• Prevents floating of fish during processing
• Allows customizable bleeding time to suit different raw materials and requirements
• Supports gentle handling with no bending of fish during processing
• Provides easy access for cleaning to minimise downtime between production cycles
• Optimises floor space usage through vertical or horizontal configurations

Technical overview

• Capacity: depends on raw material, contact us for details
• Driven by motors
• Refrigerant: sea ice or slush ice
• Approximate length range: 3,000 to 15,000 mm
• Approximate width range: 800 to 2,000 mm
• Available in vertical and horizontal configurations
• Suitable for onboard and land-based use

Proven in the field

More than 500 Dragon units have been sold worldwide in a wide range of sizes and configurations. The robustness of the design makes the machine run smoothly and lowers the need for frequent spare part changes, making it a well-established and dependable solution for processors looking for reliable long-term performance in fresh fish bleeding.

Customer experience

Processors who have selected the Dragon have highlighted its smaller footprint relative to throughput and the fact that every fish remains fully submerged in the bleeding medium throughout the process, eliminating the risk of floating raw material and ensuring consistent bleeding results across every batch. After initial installations met expectations, many customers have chosen to install the Dragon across their entire fleet.