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Abstract Background The presence of Anisakis larvae in fish represents a major public health concern. Effective risk management procedures should be applied to prevent heavily infected products from reaching the market. The aim of the study is to provide preliminary data on parasite exposure and risk classification in frozen fish products by applying a risk categorization scheme (site, abundance, density and epidemiology – SADE) and Fish Parasite Rating (FPR) method. Fish and cephalopods samples (N = 771) from 5 different FAO Atlantic areas were examined and categorized after an accurate visual inspection and a chloro-peptic digestion. Results In 25 out of 33 fish species parasite larvae were found. 10897 anisakids larvae were collected and identified to genus level. Molva dypterygia, Conger conger, Zeus faber and Aphanopus carbo were shown to be the most highly infected species. SADE and FPR scores were 1 and poor, respectively, for the referred species, because of the disseminated Anisakis infection and commercial rejection. Conclusion SADE/FPR method showed high specificity and accuracy. The information provided in this work could be used in early warning systems for the detection of parasites in fishery products and might help fishing industries in establishing management strategies for infected stocks in terms of cost saving decisions.

Background: The presence of Anisakis larvae in fish represents a major public health concern. Effective risk management procedures should be applied to prevent heavily infected products from reaching the market. The aim of the study is to provide preliminary data on parasite exposure and risk classification in frozen fish products by applying a risk categorization scheme (site, abundance, density and epidemiology – SADE) and Fish Parasite Rating (FPR) method. Fish and cephalopods samples (N = 771) from 5 different FAO Atlantic areas were examined and categorized after an accurate visual inspection and a chloro-peptic digestion. Results: In 25 out of 33 fish species parasite larvae were found. 10897 anisakids larvae were collected and identified to genus level. Molva dypterygia, Conger conger, Zeus faber and Aphanopus carbo were shown to be the most highly infected species. SADE and FPR scores were 1 and poor, respectively, for the referred species, because of the disseminated Anisakis infection and commercial rejection. Conclusion: SADE/FPR method showed high specificity and accuracy. The information provided in this work could be used in early warning systems for the detection of parasites in fishery products and might help fishing industries in establishing management strategies for infected stocks in terms of cost saving decisions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We carried out a comparison of three different tools for determining the risk of Anisakis exposure in fish: i) a risk ranking tool registered as a trade mark (FPR standard) based on a previous risk categorization scheme (Site, abundance, density and exposure, SADE), ii) the current visual method for fish inspection (V) and iii) the UV-press/peptic digestion (UV-P/PD) method. We used 2377 fish from 9 species and three important ICES fishing areas. The percentage of rejection for each fish lot was calculated according to the criteria established for the three different methods as follows: V, presence of visible parasites in the viscera and/or abdominal cavity; UV-P/PD, presence of parasites in the fish flesh; FPR scoring for parasite risk, individuals obtaining the classification of “poor”. The highest rejection rate was for UV-P/PD method, rejecting all the fish that harbor just one Anisakis in the edible part of the fish. Follow the rejection rate of fish under visual inspection, being the lowest that catalogued using the FPR standard. Visual inspection penalizes species with far higher rates of visceral than muscular parasitation, such as the blackbellied angler. Conversely, fish individuals preliminarily accepted by visual inspection would be rejected by FPR, thus minimizing the risks for consumers in species, such as in the case of the European hake, with high flesh infection. In some cases, the edible part exceeded the number of parasites found in the abdominal cavity and visceral organs. Overall, the results obtained after combining various geographic areas and fish species clearly suggest that a risk ranking tool represents a better trade-off between a best-value for money approach and the best-assurance for fish quality and safety approach than current inspection methods FPR also allows the possibility of an objective, transparent and efficient classification of the fish lots in 5 different categories from “poor” to “excellent”. As a conclusion, the FPR scheme should be routinely used within HACCP programs to facilitate the risk standardization and communication to improve the fish quality and guarantee healthier products. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The European fisheries management is currently undergoing a fundamental change in the handling of catches of commercial fisheries with the implementation of the 2013 Common Fisheries Policy. One of the main objectives of the policy is to end the practice of discarding in the EU by 2019. However, for such changes to be successful, it is vital to ensure stakeholders acceptance, and it is prudent to consider possible means to verify compliance with the new regulation. Remote Electronic Monitoring (REM) with Closed-Circuit Television (CCTV) has been tested in a variety of fisheries worldwide for different purposes and is currently considered as one possible tool to ensure compliance with a European ban on discards. This study focuses on Danish fishery inspectors and on fishers with REM experience, whose opinions are less well known. Their views on the landing obligation and on the use of REM were investigated using interviews and questionnaires, and contrasted to some fishers without REM experience. 80% of fishery inspectors and 58% of REM-experienced fishers expressed positive views on REM. 9 out of 10 interviewed fishers without REM experience were against REM. Participation in a REM trial has not led to antipathy towards REM. Fishery inspectors saw on-board observers, at-sea control and REM as the three best solutions to control the landing obligation but shared the general belief that the landing obligation cannot be enforced properly and will be difficult for fishers to comply with. The strengths and weaknesses of REM in this context are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the European fishery sector, the traceability represents a relatively new concept and it is in the attention of the fish inspection services and fishery industries. Recently, it has been developed international standards, industry guidelines, and legislation, and beginning with January 2005 the fishery industry in the European Union, and other countries that export fish to European Union must have implemented traceability systems in order to comply with the requirements of the Regulation EU no. 178/2002 of the European Parliament and the Council. In this context, the aim of this paper is to present a brief review regarding the European Union fish traceability legal framework and of others countries which play an important role in the global fish trade. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

BACKGROUND Pangasius is a fish produced on a large scale in Vietnam and exported to many countries. Since river contamination from human activities can affect the safety of this food, fish consumption can cause exposure to potentially toxic elements for humans. The aim of this study, therefore, was to assess arsenic, cadmium, lead, copper and chromium contents by atomic absorption spectrometry in Pangasius fillet produced in the provinces of Dong Thap and Can Tho (Vietnam) and exported to Brazil. RESULTS The limits of detection were: arsenic 0.5443 µg kg−1, cadmium 0.0040 mg kg−1, chromium 0.0004 mg kg−1, copper 0.0037 mg kg−1 and lead 0.0284 mg kg−1. Analysis of 20 samples showed results below the limit of detection for arsenic, chromium and lead, while copper average concentration was 0.0234 mg kg−1. Cadmium average concentration was 0.0547 mg kg−1, with no significant difference between the two regions studied. CONCLUSION The samples of Pangasius had no detectable concentrations of arsenic, chromium, copper and lead, and do not represent a hazard to public health. However, cadmium analysis revealed non-compliant samples, demonstrating the importance of monitoring the quality of imported Pangasius fish. © 2015 Society of Chemical Industry [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article focuses on a survey regarding the infection of sea lice on the fish farms of Ireland. It describes that sea lice are parasites that are found in the salmon fishes that are wild as well as cultured in Ireland. It states the methodology used in the survey such as monitoring of sea lice levels in the cultured stock of salmon fishes and mentions that sea lice inspection is done once per month. It presents the results of the survey in which 83 percent of the salmon fishes were below the level at which they require treatment.

As a concept, culture can easily appear quite diffuse and it is often contested. This ambiguity begs the question of what it means to invoke the concept in particular situations. This paper is an analytic experiment, which was kick-started when I asked informants about sailor culture during fieldwork onboard the Danish fisheries inspection vessel The West Coast. In response, fisheries inspectors, surprisingly, suggested watching the Danish cult movie Martha (1967). I describe this incident as a small ethnographic moment leading me to conduct the present experiment. This involves using Martha as an analytic device to investigate sailor culture. More specifically, I use a preliminary analysis of the movie as an entry point to understand five matters of concern, which I encountered during fieldwork. With point of departure in an analytic attitude I call empirical philosophy I propose the term inter-reflexivity to characterize this mode of lateral cultural analysis. Inter-reflexivity emphasizes a double movement emerging from an ethnographic moment in the field and the creative translation of that moment into an analytic device. The paper concludes by discussing the implications of using a popular cultural artefact encountered in the field as such a device for articulating some complex, current stakes in fisheries inspection and ‘inventing’ a particular version of sailor culture. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article focuses the monitoring of sea lice, such as Lepeophtheirus Salmonis and Caligus elongatus, on fish farms in Ireland in 2011. It says that in 1991, the Department of the Marine (DOM) set off a Sea Lice Monitoring Programme which was expanded nationwide in 1993. It states that the objectives of the monitoring programme include investigation of nature of infestations, provide management information to drive the control and management strategies implementation, and facilitate development and refinement of the strategy. It states that in 2011, 236 sea lice inspections were carried out on the 23 salmonid sites.

Veterinary drugs are used to treat or prevent a wide array of production-related diseases in aquaculture. Residues of these drugs in seafood products may pose risks to consumers, prompting governments to set drug residue tolerance levels and inspect seafood for violations of these standards. This study characterizes veterinary drug inspection policies and violations among four inspecting bodies (European Union (E.U.), United States (U.S.), Canada, and Japan), using government-collected veterinary drug violation data from 2000 to 2009. Most veterinary drug violations were detected in species that are commonly farm-raised. Asian seafood products, including shrimp and prawns, catfish (or fish sold as catfish), crab, tilapia, eel, and Chilean salmon were most frequently in violation of veterinary drug residue standards. Vietnam had the greatest number of violations among exporting countries. Concentrations of most veterinary drugs in seafood found in violation did not differ between inspecting bodies that reported drug concentrations. Transparency in seafood inspection reporting varied widely among inspecting bodies. Estimation of violations in the untested fraction of seafood was precluded by a lack of information from inspecting bodies regarding the distinction between targeted and random sampling. Increased transparency could facilitate a more rigorous characterization of public health risks from consuming imported seafood. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Applications of imaging technologies are playing an important role in several major areas in research and industry, including process optimization, automated sorting and grading, and automated processing. This review looks at the trends in application of imaging technologies to inspection of fish and fish products – in particular reviewing the applications of VIS/NIR imaging, VIS/NIR imaging spectroscopy, planar and computed tomography (CT) X-ray imaging, and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). In recent years, a large amount of research has been published on the use of imaging technologies for inspecting fish and fish products. This review article condenses a representative selection of recent research and industrial solutions in order to observe the general trends in how the imaging technologies are applied to inspection of fish and fish products. Based on these observed trends, we provide some viewpoints on the current situation and suggestions for future research directions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The main objective of this study was to evaluate the metal content in water and sediment from the Toledo municipal lake, as well as the concentration levels of heavy metals in muscle and liver of four fish species. A digestion procedure was performed in all fish samples. Metal analysis was performed by using the Synchrotron Radiation X-ray Fluorescence technique. The accuracy and validity of the measurements were determined by analysis of certified reference materials. The highest Cr, Cu and Se concentration levels above the maximum tolerance limit according to the Brazilian norms in fish tissue could be associated with the metal uptake and accumulation due to the direct contact with contaminated water and sediment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Drawing inspiration from Science and Technology Studies (STS), this article develops an understanding of surveillance as a situated activity. Thus, concepts developed by feminist, Donna Haraway, and actor-network theorist, Bruno Latour, are used to establish an analytic attitude in which the 'situatedness' of vision and technologies is seen as a salient feature of surveillance. Empirically, the article examines how surveillance on a Danish fisheries inspection ship is situated in a specific way. This example depicts surveillance as fragile, limited, and partial, and as an ongoing and sometimes difficult achievement, which involves the work of many different actors. It shows how friction and resistance can be part of surveillance processes, and it questions the clear distinction between 'the observer' and 'the observed'. Finally, it shows how, in this instance, surveillance is not only a matter of control, but also of care. The notion of situated surveillance makes the development of overly general conceptions of surveillance (e.g. some interpretations of the Panopticon) problematic. Thus, it urges the researcher to study surveillance empirically, in specific settings. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Automatic fish fillet inspection, i.e. detection of flaws and irregularities, is often done on fast moving conveyer belts using line scan imaging. Recent work shows that imaging spectroscopy is a promising method for automatic fish fillet inspection. This requires fast algorithms that can handle large amount of data and make reliable decisions in fractions of a second. One important step in these algorithms is segmentation, where different regions in the image are labelled. For cod fillets, this can be to identify which part of the fillet belongs to the loin, belly flap, centre cut and tail. How severe a detected flaw is depends on which part of the fillet it is located in. Segmentation requires a robust spatial reference system which is invariant to rotation and warping of the fillet. The centreline, consisting of veins and arteries cut off during filleting, is always visible on cod fillets and hence a good reference for segmentation. We show how to enhance the centreline by using the absorption characteristics of haemoglobin, and how a novel ridge detection method can detect the centreline in cod fillets. The results show that the centreline can be detected with an average accuracy of 1mm from the tail and 77% into the fillet relative to its total length. The average error increases rapidly in the neck region and typical errors of 4mm is reported. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Substantial amounts of mercury are usually present in tuna muscle, with levels in excess of 10 times the standard safety value present in some individuals. Inspection of individual fish for mercury content would be desirable but may not be cost-effective. In this study, we tried to establish a low-cost system for checking the mercury content of tuna by using a tail muscle that is usually discarded. The samples used in this experiment were bluefin tuna, cultured in the Fisheries Laboratory of Kinki University (Oshima Experimental Station, Wakayama, Japan). They were raised from eggs spawned in 2002. Ninety-eight individuals, weighing 22.3 to 61.6 kg, were selected between December 2004 and November 2005. In nine individuals, the mercury content of the tail was compared with that of the whole body. The total mercury level was measured using the reduction vaporizing atomic absorption method after acid digestion. Except for the front of the abdomen, where the mercury content was lower (0.490 ppm), the mercury content of other parts of the fish did not differ from that of the tail muscle (0.631 ppm). Therefore, the overall mercury concentration in bluefin tuna could be estimated to be almost the same and/or lower than that of the tail muscle. On the basis of these results, for 1 year we investigated the quantity of mercury in full-cycle cultured bluefin tuna that were shipped. The mercury concentration showed no increase irrespective of increases of body weight. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Recent reports in the scientific literature and the media, related to elevated levels of polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) and polybrominated diethyl ethers (PBDEs) in farmed and wild salmon have had significant impacts on public opinion and consumer behavior, influencing the sales of farmed salmon in North America and Europe. The assessment of contaminants in fatty fish, an important source of omega-3 fatty acids, is therefore an exercise in balancing risks and benefits. Human health risk assessors and risk managers will benefit from an understanding of the level of uncertainty that is integrated into all aspects of evaluating risk in this context. Significant variability exists in the way in which analyses are conducted, how data are reported, and how they are used in risk assessments. We conducted an analytical review of PCB and PBDE data in farmed and wild salmon, and identified critical issues having implications on human health risk assessment from fish consumption. These issues include: analytical methodologies used, quantification issues, reporting of QA/QC information, tissue sampling, nature of tissue analyzed, and laboratory competence. This article reviews and outlines these issues, discusses their implications for human health risk assessment, and recommends the consistent application of analytical fish tissue data in human health risk assessment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article discusses the wildlife conservation activity of tamien fish species found in the remote Uur River in Mongolia by the science team including the Sweetwater Travel guide Charlie Conn and Zeb Hogan, a biologist from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. The biological rescue operation of the species involves a series of critical procedures such as treating the water with tricaine, a common fish sedative. Tamien species were also called "river shark" and consumed the biggest part in the river food webs in northern Asia.

Minnows Phoxinus phoxinus did not show any difference in the average distance from a predator associated with the left or right position of a shoal-mate. While inspection behaviour of fish tested with a mirror on their left side was indistinguishable from the behaviour of controls tested without a mirror, inspection behaviour of fish tested with the mirror on their right side appeared to be changed and incoherent in both temporal and spatial parameters. These results suggest that, as in mosquitofish Gambusia holbrooki, the condition with the mirror on the left provided the best arrangement of monocular lateral stimulation in which each stimulus fell into the correct lateral visual field. Minnows showed a significant left eye preference during scrutiny of their mirror image when tested in the absence of any predator and a significant right eye preference while monitoring a live predator in the absence of a social partner. Copyright 2002 The Fisheries Society of the British Isles. Published by Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

The objective of this paper is threefold: First is to produce a broad framework of the ways that state regulatory policies are interdependent. Second is to examine the factors that determine the nature of that interdependence. Third is to discuss the governance implications of different types of regulatory interdependencies. This analysis is applied to the spread of a new international fish inspection regulatory regime. I propose three modes of regulatory interdependence: competitive, coordinative, and informational. The key assumption in the competitive mode of regulatory interdependence is that states are caught in a prisoner's dilemma - either because states use social regulation as a protectionist tool or because states undercut each other's regulations in a race to the bottom. In the coordinative mode of interdependence it is assumed that there are certain benefits to having regulations that are compatible with those of other states – sometimes resulting in a race together, or a race to the top. Finally,in the informational mode of interdependence, it is assumed that states are coping with massive uncertainty as to their best policy options. The regulatory choices of other states provide signals (and often much data) to good policy options. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article looks at how demand for sustainably certified wild-caught fish and crustaceans has impacted developing country fisheries (DCFs), many of which do not have certification from the Marine Stewardship Council (MSC). Particular attention is also given to fishery improvement projects (FIPs) in which fishers are given conditional market access based on progress towards sustainability.

Discusses schemes for analyzing joint toxic effects of multicomponent mixtures on fish. Evaluation of the additivity index and mixture toxicity index; Similarity parameter for microbial toxicity; Predicted values for mixtures.

A portable instrument was developed to rapidly and objectively determine texture (firmness and resilience) of raw Atlantic cod (Gadus morhua) fillets. A controlled study determined the texture of raw fillets from 774 cod, caught at three different times of year. Compared to texture grades of fillets assessed by trained and experienced Fish Inspection Officers, this instrument was a dependable method of rapidly determined texture of raw fillets. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The author discusses the growth and development of the seafood industry in the past 30 years wherein aquaculture or aquafarming flourished and now contributes 50% to the production of seafood. The International Association of Fish Inspectors (IAFI), an organization that represents fish inspection community, updates members on legislative reforms to guarantee that seafood is safe for consumption. He also discusses the advancements in testing approach to ensure product quality.

The article focuses on the federal rule proposed by the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) that would allow it to inspect catfish and catfich products. It mentions that the proposal will require the U.S. Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) to inspect the food products derived from catfish as well as the imported and exported catfish products to verify their sanitary conditions. Moreover, it says that FSIS accepts comments regarding the proposed regulation until June 24, 2011.

An introduction is presented in which the editor discusses various reports within the issue on topics including the control of Japanese Canadian population during the World War 2, surveillance and conspiracy theory, and the study of fisheries inspection.