To effectively utilize fish skin gelatin as a material for quality improvement in surimi gel from fish with a red muscle, conger eel skin gelatin was modified with succinic anhydride, and funtional properties such as emulsifying activity and emulsifying stability were determined. The degree of chemical modification increased up to 0.3 g of succinic anhydride/g of gelatin, above this adding ratio a nearly constant value was reached. The maximum amount of modification was about 90%. The emulsifying activity and emulsifying stability of gelatin gradually increased up to 89.8% of succinylation extent, little changed above of succinylation extent. The other functional properties as solubility, water holding capacity, foam expansion and foam stability were improved following succinylation with 0.3 g of succinic anhydride/g of gelatin. Amino acid composition of succinylated gelatin was similar to that of unmodified gelatin. Heavy mead contents such as cadmium, lead, copper and zinc of succinylated gelatin were lower than those of unmodified gelatin.