Once one of these collecting vessels has caught its fill, it'll come abreast of the Lafayette and pump the contents of its hold into the processing ship at one of three pumping stations—the two stations on the port side can handle two simultaneous trawlers but the third pumping station on the stern of the vessel is only used when rough seas make pulling alongside unsafe.

Onboard the Lafayette, the fish are first deposited in one of 32 refrigerated primary holding tanks, each with a 10,000 cubic meters capacity. It can support much as 7000 tons of fish in freezing waters. From there, a vacuum pump sucks the fish from the holding tanks and dumps them on one of three large hoppers. These hoppers then lift the catch up onto a fish grading system.