Guide to how quality fish should be handled

A slap on the face with a wet fish will never be quite the same again. Such handling practices would not be condoned under the European Union's quality scheme for seafood.

The scheme, which has been grant-aided by the EU's PESCA fund, aims to show that a little bit of effort on the deck of a fishing vessel can yield significant financial returns.

Improvements in sorting, gutting, washing and stowage can make a critical difference to the state of the catch - as can certain hunting methods.

A two-year project involving some 11 fishing vessels in the south-west has highlighted several key quality issues.

These have been summarised in a new guide published by Bord Iascaigh Mhara in co-operation with the Irish South and West Producers' Organisation and the Department of the Marine and Natural Resources. The guide, which was presented to the Minister for the Marine and Natural Resources, Dr Woods, in Castletownbere, Co Cork, yesterday illustrates how quality fish should look, before and after landing.

The initiative is one of a series of marine projects ranging from scallop reseeding to passenger vessels for dolphin-watching and sea angling which have been assisted under the PESCA scheme.

The total investment is £4 million, some £1.8 million of which is EU funds under the PESCA community initiative, with £370,000 coming from the State. The projects include a study by BIM of the distribution channel network of Irish seafood in Europe, which received £34,485 under the programme, and the development of a pilot seaweed cultivation programme.