Objective: Improve the mechanization and automation of the pretreatment process of China’s freshwater fish processing industry. Methods: The catfish head cutting simulation model is constructed by the numerical analysis software ANSYS/LS-DYNA, and the catfish head removal process is simulated and analyzed and the motion parameters are optimized by FEM. The blade speed and transportation speed are adjusted with the minimum cutting power consumption as the optimization goal, and the accuracy of the simulation results is verified by the prototype test. Results: When the speed of the blade is 850 r/min and the conveying speed is 14 cm/s, the cutting section of the fish head is smooth and smooth, the sensory of the section is good, and the cutting efficiency of the head can be guaranteed. Conclusion: The established simulation model of disc cutter cutting fish head can describe the motion process, but the accuracy needs to be improved.