Good fish handling practices ensures safe good quality fish to consumers and generates high income.
Fish easily go bad due to enzymes and harmful bacteria. Good quality fish has bright, protruding eyes, red gills and its flesh bounces back when touched. For proper icing of fish use 1 kg of ice for every 1kg of fish.
Trading practices
Always buy good quality to avoid trading in losses and also immediately ice fresh fish to prevent it from easily going bad. Thereafter wash fresh fish in clean water to remove dirt and bacteria, split it using clean tools in a clean environment to remove guts that easily spoil fish and also avoid food poisoning. Furthermore, keep insulated fish boxes clean these should have a draining hole to allow melted ice drain off.
Alternatively cover fresh fish with a clean wet cloth to protect fish from heat of the sun. Ensure that smoked fish are brown not black with no insect invasions and feel hard when toughed. Make sure that lake sardines have a silver colour, free from sand and dirt through proper drying. Additionally, handle fish carefully and keep them in clean areas.
Always immediately transport fish to market, secure fish trading areas to avoid contamination, clean fish surfaces and equipments with clean water and regularly keep yourself and workers clean. Also properly dispose off fish waste and avoid using pesticides or insecticides and other impurities in fish trading business.
Transporting and selling
During fish transportation use refrigerated, insulated vehicles with saleable doors to avoid fish contamination and keep fish at low temperatures. Additionally transport dried in enclosed vehicles and these should also they should be parked to avoid contamination. Furthermore during fish selling always inform customers about your products, treat them well, keep selling premises clean and display fish in attractive way to attract customers. Lastly, separate dried, smoked fish from fresh fish.
