The deck of a fishing vessel is the first food-processing floor in the chain, and this guideline treats it as one.
Overview
This guideline settles what a shore-based hygiene manual leaves open: who owns sanitary control while the vessel is at sea, and what the catch may be cooled and held in once it is aboard. It is one reference document, prepared as the international edition of GSO 514 (handling fresh fish at sea) and GSO 1026 (preparation, transportation, handling and storing of fish), on the normative basis of Codex CXC 52, the Code of Practice for Fish and Fishery Products. Spoilage moves faster in fish than in almost any other food, so vessel-side and shore-side requirements are merged into a single clause structure instead of being left in two standards that stop at the quayside.
What it covers
- Sanitary control at sea — the control programme owned by the vessel commander, and trip planning before the vessel sails
- Holds, decks and cooling plant — construction and cooling capacity, refrigerated seawater and brine systems, and ice made only from potable or clean water
- Hygienic facilities aboard — the provisions a working vessel must carry for handling catch between deck and hold
- Handling ashore — preparation, transport and storage of fish through to the point of sale
Who it's for
Fishing vessel operators and fleet managers, fish markets, seafood processors and importers, and the port health inspectors responsible for the seafood cold chain. It earns its place when a buyer or an export authority wants handling between deck and chill store described in writing rather than demonstrated on the quayside.
Key documents
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