Fish Processing

Fish are harvested through commercial fishing and aquaculture. According to the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), the world harvest in 2005 consisted of 93 million tonnes captured by commercial fishing in wild fisheries, plus 48 million tonnes produced by fish farms. Projections (FAO) are that wild fish capture will remain relatively constant while fish farming will increase at about 5 to 10% per annum.
Larger fish processing companies often operate their own fishing fleets or farming operations. The products of the fish industry are usually sold to grocery chains or to intermediaries.

The predominant flora found in filter feeders, such as Mussels and Oysters, are: Vibrio, Pseudomonas, Shewanella, Aeromonas, Acinetobacter, Flavobacterium, Staphylococcus, Bacillus, Streptococcus. The flora does not always reflect the natural water flora.
Fish skin micro flora reflect that of surrounding water and may have from 102 to 104 cfu/cm2 with typical flora including Pseudomonas, Moraxella, Vibrio, Flavobacterium, Acinetobacter, Aeromonas , Micrococcus, Bacillus.

Fish intestinal micro flora is established early, at the larval stage, and may be at levels up to 108 cfu/g; with typical flora including Pseudomonas, Vibrio, Achromobacter, Flavobacterium, Corynebacterium, Aeromonas, Bacillus, Micrococcus

Fish are highly perishable. A central concern of fish processing is to prevent fish from deteriorating, and this remains an underlying concern during other processing operations.
Fish processing can be subdivided into fish handling, which is the preliminary processing of raw fish, and the manufacture of fish products. Another natural subdivision is into primary processing involved in the filleting and freezing of fresh fish for onward distribution to fresh fish retail and catering outlets, and the secondary processing that produces chilled, frozen and canned products for the retail and catering trades.

Cleaning in a fish processing plant involves the removal of gross debris from large and hazardous equipment. Typically medium pressure washdown systems are used for foam application and rinsing. Soils are primarily proteins.