Fishing Vessel Hygiene Checksheets
Seafish has prepared Fishing Vessel Hygiene Checklists for skippers and enforcement officers.
Most fishing vessels need to comply with the fairly basic hygiene requirements of Regulation 852/2004 and 853/2003. They do not require approval by an enforcement officer. However, factory vessels (e.g. those that fillet and pack fish on board) and freezer vessels have to comply with an extra and more stringent set of hygiene requirements. Operators of these vessels will need approval by an Environmental or Port Health Officer.
Fishing vessel hygiene checksheets
Seafish, in collaboration with the Food Standards Agency (FSA), industry and enforcement representatives, has produced a number of hygiene checklists for checking whether fishing vessels comply with minimum hygiene requirements. The purpose of the checklists is:
- to inform skippers what the hygiene check involves;
- to assure skippers that in most cases the hygiene requirements are very basic, and that they are probably already compliant;
- to provide practical guidance to enforcement officers.
You can access them by clicking on the links below.
- Hygiene Checklist for fishing vessels that do not require approval (most fishing vessels will fall under this category)
- Hygiene Checklist for factory vessels requiring approval under Regulation 853/2004
- Hygiene Checklist for freezer vessels requiring approval under Regulation 853/2004
- Application for approval of factory and freezer vessels: application for approval under Regulation 853/2004
The Irish Sea-Fisheries Protection Agency also has a Guide to Good Practice for Hygiene on Fishing Vessels, available here.