The trimethylamine-sensing characteristics of ZnO based thin film semiconductors and the sensitivity enhancement by squttering conditions have been investigated to develop a new type sensor for detecting fish freshness. The sensor fabricated with a 300nm of ZnO thin film with 4 wt% Al sub(2) O sub(3) and 1 wt% TiO sub(2) exhibited the highest sensitivity of 155 at 30$0^{circ}C$ of working temperature and to the 240 ppm TMA gas. Deposition of ZnO thin film using a RF magnetron sputter was carried out at a pressure of 10 super(-2) Torr in pure oxygen gas with an RF power of 100W. The sensor exhibited a large response to the actual gases produced by a mackerel at an early stage of decomposition.