A survey of process hygiene in the Sri Lankan prawn industry. 2. The hygiene status of personnel

Of 262 personnel tested, 137 (52%) were found to be positive for Staphylococcus aureus. Among individual companies the prevalence of S. aureus ranged from 92% (Company No. 1) to 22% (Company No. 2). Although five companies provided a sanitiser hand-dip, this was found to be ineffective for the control of S. aureus. Provision of hand-washing facilities, of protective clothing and of toilet facilities was found to be inadequate for an export food industry.

Marketing and hygiene

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Texture measurement on gutted cod during storage in ice using a hand-held instrument

Fish muscle as food is to be seen as highly perishable. In unfrozen fish, freshness is considered the most important quality attribute. It is well known that there are several biochemical changes that can affect dramatically the texture of fish muscle. Immediately after death the fish texture is soft and elastic. In connection with rigor mortis the fish texture changes markedly. It becomes harder during rigor and after its resolution it becomes softer. This softness increases due to proteolysis during further storage at refrigerated conditions. Texture is a very important indicator for evaluating the quality of fish. Barroso et al. (1997) have recently reviewed mechanical methods in use for texture measurements on fresh fish. Further reviews on texture measurement performed on fish muscle were recently published underlining the importance of texture as quality attribute (Hyldig et al 2001, Coppes et al. 2002). The position along the fish can influence the results and was investigated by several authors (Sigurgis-ladottir et. al. 1999). Different methods have been compared for their ability to differentiate between recently killed salmon and salmon stored on ice for up to 24 days (Veland et al. 1999).

Status of policies on fish hygiene in Nigeria

An examination is made of fish health policy formulation in Nigeria. Such policies are necessary to protect fish a living aquatic resources and also fish food at harvest because of the immense nutritional, social and economic benefits derivable by man from fish. Fish health policies must recognize the implications of aquatic environment pollution, the dangers of bad fishing methods and application of harmful fishing gears and appliances and post-mortem handling practices

Poverty in the fisheries, inductors, causes and intervention

The study is prompted by the poverty that persisted among the fishing communities of lake victoria at time of considerable cash inflow into the fisheries development of fish processing industry. There has been need for understanding of the poverty and what strategies would be most appreciate for it's reduction.This study has attempted to respond to the needby identifying the nature and distribution of the poverty within the fisheries lake victoria,Uganda, the factor responsible for itand the options for poverty reduction intervention. The study examined the global and regional perspectives of poverty and wealth distribution, noting that wide disparities existed between the developed and the developing world and also between the developing countries themselves. A historical review of development policies and strategies revealed that while successive strategies were able to contribute to growth, their achievement towards poverty alleviation were less than satisfactory, hence the need for continually developing new strategies. A background to Uganda’s society and economy is provided, examining the demographic, political, environmental and economic conditions of the country. Uganda’s development strategies are reviewed, highlighting the role of the Poverty Eradication Action Plan, Uganda’s main strategy for implementing the policy of poverty reduction and wealth distribution. At the agricultural sector level, the Plan for the Modernisation of Agriculture has been formulated, followed by the National Fisheries Policy, aimed at providing a policy framework for the management and development of the fisheries. An appropriate definition of poverty was formulated, considered relevant to the situation of Lake Victoria. The dimensions of poverty included inadequate basic necessities, low education and health achievements, a sense of insecurity and exposure to risk. The research methodology was enhanced by the examination of the Lélé Model of the Poverty–Environmental Degradation problem, the World Bank Model of Poverty Causation and the subsequent Lake Victoria Model developed in this study. It has provided a plan for the research, the consideration of criteria and a data collection plan. The data collection instruments included secondary data search, key informant interviews and a sample survey based on a structured questionnaire. The study identified all the four dimensions of poverty in the fisheries, provided poverty profiles with respect to the different activities, groups of people and regions in the fisheries, based on consumption poverty. Among the people identified to be in poverty were the fishing labourers, fishers of Oreochromis niloticus and those operating with non-powered boats. In the post-harvest fisheries, large proportions of processors involved in salting and sun-drying, market stall and bicycle traders were in the poverty category. The ethnic groups most affected included the Samia, Basoga and Bakenye while the Districts of Jinja, Bugiri and Busia had the highest proportions of fishers in the poverty category. With respect to the other dimensions of poverty, the study showed that educational achievement was low within the fishing communities. The health status was poor, due mainly to the prevalence of malaria, diarrhoea, bilharzia and HIV/AIDS. There was a sense of insecurity within certain sections of the fishing community, due to leadership weaknesses within the local as well as the Government institutions. Some community members operated in a state of risk because they were vulnerable to episodes of income, health and education. The causes of poverty in fisheries included weaknesses within the institutional and social environment, limitations in the technology available to the poor, resource degradation and unfavourable economic factors. The recommendations of the study for poverty reduction included strengthening of policies, developing links, improving capacities and increasing resources, to be applied at the levels of Central Government, Local Government and of the community. In view of the achievements of the methodology used on this study, involving reference to the models, it is recommended that future research should build upon this model approach, as it will continue to produce results, especially when attempting to forecast changes relating to interventions.

A survey of process hygiene in the Sri Lankan prawn industry. 1. Hygiene status of raw materials and products

A survey of processing hygiene in the Sri Lankan prawn industry has shown that the incoming raw material has extremely high bacterial loadings; about 50% of samples analysed had a total count in excess of 10,000,000/g. Although beheading reduces the count, ineffective temperature control during processing means that the final total count of raw, shell-on, P.U.D. and P.A.D. prawns, as well as cooked prawns, is in excess of 1,000,000/g. - the maximum level specified by many importing countries.

A survey of process hygiene in the Sri Lankan prawn industry. 3. Critical control points

Of fifteen processing plants surveyed in Sri Lanka, only five were found to have a prawn process which was adequately controlled. Most common process faults were: inadequate chilling of prawns after a wash in 30°C, mains water, the use of large blocks of ice to cool prawns, and high ratios of prawns to ice. There was also ample scope for cross-contamination of the processed prawns.