Scallops: safe and sustainable from tide to table
Irish seafood is renowned for its delicious, nutritious quality. As the competent authority for the enforcement of sea-fisheries law and food safety law, the Sea-Fisheries Protection Authority (SFPA) works to ensure the sustainability of these stocks and also to promote food safety in the seafood sector.
The latest SFPA Consumer Advice leaflet on Irish scallops advises consumers on the safe choosing and handling of scallops and along with the SFPA’s additional consumer advice leaflets on smoked salmon and brown crab it is available from www.sfpa.ie or any SFPA office.
There are two species of scallop fished in Irish waters: the King Scallop and the smaller Queen Scallop, which is the less common variety. King Scallops are landed throughout the year while the high season for Queen Scallops is August to November.
Irish vessels fish for scallops in both inshore and offshore waters. All scallops landed into Ireland are processed before sale. Whole scallops are landed to processing plants. Processing, or shucking, involves extracting the adductor muscle (white meat) and the attached gonads or roe from the shell. Processing is a significant source of employment and potentially adds value to the raw product.
When taken onboard, all scallops are handled with care to reduce stress in the adductor muscle, which is the edible white meat. Premium grade scallops are taken only from the last two days of fishing and these are shucked from their shell and washed with no soaking or glazing. The meats are size graded and packed on ice according to buyers’ requirements and are guaranteed as a premium quality product.
Under Food Safety Regulations, all food business operators are obliged to produce safe food. As with many shellfish, a particular consideration is the potential presence of naturally occurring marine biotoxins in the scallop meat and Ireland operates a comprehensive biotoxin monitoring programme to manage this possibility. To protect the consumer, all landings of Irish-caught scallop are tested for the presence of biotoxins prior to being placed on the market for human consumption.
Minimum landing sizes
Fisheries conservation measures in place intended to promote the sustainability of scallop stocks include minimum landing sizes and requirements to hold official authorisations. The sale of Irish scallops below the minimum landing sizes and requirements is illegal and damaging to stock survival.
The SFPA requests that consumers who find scallops on sale below the minimum landing sizes and requirements, to report this to the SFPA’s confidential line:
1890 76 76 76.
The SFPA also advises consumers to take precautions to ensure the protection of Irish scallops:
- purchase from a reputable retailer who follows good food handling practices
- ensure the product is refrigerated or well iced when purchasing
- checke the best-before date (where relevant)
- ensure there is sufficient shelf-life remaining for the intended consumption date
- purchase at the end of a shopping trip and place in refrigerated storage as soon as possible
- defrost in the refrigerator prior to use if purchased frozen
- dispose of any product not consumed within the ‘Use-by’ date
- ensure the packaging is intact if buying a pre-packed product
- avoid contamination by observing safe food handling practices in the home.
Furthermore, pre-packaged products containing scallop should be labelled with the name of the product; instructions for use/storage; a list of ingredients; the net quantity; production method and origin of the product, and the name and address of a supplier in the European Union.
Quality assurance
The packaging should also display an approval number which is oval shaped and marked with a unique identification number. This provides an assurance that the product originated from a premises approved by the SFPA or other competent authority.
“The scallop fishing sector makes an important contribution to the economies of rural coastal communities. The SFPA works with the fishing industry to ensure that fish products produced, processed and sold in Ireland and abroad, meet the highest standards of food safety
“Consumers have an important role to play in helping to ensure the food they purchase and consume is fished responsibly and handled safely,” advises Peter Whelan, chairman of the SFPA.
