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Post Harvest Quality and Safety of Fresh Fish

The document provides recommendations to improve the quality and safety of fresh fish from catch to consumer. Key points include minimizing stress and rapid cooling of fish after catch, using ice slurry or flake ice for cooling, implementing hygienic practices for unloading, washing, auctioning, cutting and reloading fish, and using refrigerated transport. Proper handling at all stages of the supply chain is important to maintain freshness and food safety.

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Tharaka Dhrshana Wijerathne
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450 views29 pages

Post Harvest Quality and Safety of Fresh Fish

The document provides recommendations to improve the quality and safety of fresh fish from catch to consumer. Key points include minimizing stress and rapid cooling of fish after catch, using ice slurry or flake ice for cooling, implementing hygienic practices for unloading, washing, auctioning, cutting and reloading fish, and using refrigerated transport. Proper handling at all stages of the supply chain is important to maintain freshness and food safety.

Uploaded by

Tharaka Dhrshana Wijerathne
Copyright
© Attribution Non-Commercial (BY-NC)
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as PPT, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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Post Harvest Quality and

Safety of Fresh Fish


Catching
• Avoid struggling of fish-fish under stress
- reduced glycogen level reduce post
harvest shelf life
• Gaff the fish through the head
• Use two gaffs for big fish, the second through the
mouth
• Lift the fish tail to help haul it on-board
Slaughtering
• Fish should be killed
immediately
• Slaughtering should done by a
skilled person
On board handling- current
wrong practices
• Fish is iced directly to reduce temperature, this
takes longer time
• Fish is stacking one over each other-
pressure on fish in lower layers
• Fish is cooled with crushed block ice or
flake ice-damage fish
• Handling time on deck is long (in heat)
Potential Improvements
• Place in chilled brine (a slurry of
crushed ice and seawater)- Lower the
internal temperature of fish
• After temperature reaches 0°C-put in
ice and keep until arrival at port
Potential Improvements
Advantages
• Dipping in chilled brine
– Completely surrounds the fish
– Salt/Seawater is cheap
– Good heat transfer-uniform cooling
– Requires less ice -better quality fish

• Flake ice is good for keeping fish cool


– Keeps fish moist while melting- Results freshness

• Put cold fish into boxes in hold


– Less pressure on lower layers
Cooling rates of fish -
comparison of flake ice and ice
Temp. (°C)
slurry

Flake ice

Ice slurry

Time (hours)
For Export Market
• Hang fish on hook
• Trollers equipped with freezers
• Less stacking of fish
Landing and distribution of
fish in fishery harbour
Fish in the hold (box or hold)

Unloading

Washing

Deliver to the auction hall / pier

•
Auctioning

Cutting Re-loading

Consumer Re-icing

Transport

Consumer
Unloading -Current
practices
• Fish is unloaded straight onto the pier and
mostly by hand
• Washed directly from highly polluted sea
water in the harbor basin
• Pier is highly contaminated-used for
auctioning and packaging fish for transport
• Bigger fish are dragged along the pier
Improvements
• Fish must be unloaded on to suitable containers-
pallets
• Unloading areas of Pier must be cleaned with
potable water
• Area separation should be implemented for the
pier
-unloading area
-washing area
-packaging
-loading area
• Avoid twisting the fish when removing from the ice
• Fish be held by the head rather than the tail

• Handling the fish gently

• Avoid leaving the fish too long in the open air or


sunlight
Washing - Current practices
• Wash with contaminated harbour
water
• Equipment, containers and pallets
are often washed with harbour water
• Water used for washing fish is not
changed frequently
Improvements
• Fish must be washed using potable / clean sea water
Equipment , containers and pallets should be thoroughly washed
-using potable
-using suitable cleaning agents
• Blood with melted ice and dirty slime layer should be removed by
washing
• Use running water
• Water must be changed frequently
• Prevent cross contamination during washing
Preparing for the auction –
current practices
• Designated auction area is not used
• Fish from boats further from the pier
sometimes gets rough handling
• Fish is delivered by hand- not in
boxes
• Dragging fish on pier
Improvements
• Fish should not be dragged on the pier
floor, and suitable containers / carts should
be used
• Fish should not be damaged during
unloading and delivery by rough handling
• Minimum handling will reduce the risk of
cross-contamination and physical damage
Auctioning – current
practices
• Fish is sold straight from the pier /
concrete
• Unrelated traffic (people and
vehicles) in the auctioning area
• Auctioning takes too long
• Temperature abuse
Auctioning - improvements
• Pallets or boxes should be used during
auctioning
• Temperature abuse can be minimized by
• using ice
• shortening the auction time
• Zoning should be implemented to reduce
traffic
Cutting – current practices
• Not following hygienic practices
• Cleaning with harbour water
• Wooden cutting boards-difficult to clean
• No waste bins
Improvements
• Access to potable water
• Clean / scrape and disinfect wooden
surfaces
• Waste bins at each table
Re-loading – current
practices
• Reloading outside of designated area
• Inappropriate vehicles used for transport
• Icing not done correctly or at all
• Inside of vehicles
• Cross contamination from feet / footwear
• containers /boxes
-Reused polystyrene
-Pests
-Dirt
-Damages
Improvements
• Use insulated boxes / insulated or refrigerated
vehicles-avoid melting of ice
• Polystyrene (rigifoam) and wooden boxes should be
lined with plastic bags
• Ice should be available at the harbour premises
• Re-icing must be done as soon as possible according
to transportation time using fresh ice
• Boxes / vehicles should not be over- or
under-loaded
• Use separate footwear inside trucks
• Practice careful handling of fish
• Avoid unnecessary handling
• Fish should be transported separately from
other items (tools, boxes)
Transportation
• Many different types of transport
• Refrigerated trucks
• Unrefrigerated trucks
• Three wheelers
• Motorbikes
• Bicycles
Improvements
• Keep fish cool during transport
-shield from direct sunlight
• Use clean packaging and vehicles
• Quick transport
-Vehicles should leave as soon
as they are ready

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