Title: Pre- and post - harvest handling and processing procedures for the production of safe and high quality fresh fisheries products in Bangladesh

Fisheries play a significant role in Bangladesh providing 63% of the animal protein supply and 10% direct or indirect employment for 150 million people, and are the second highest export earning source of the country. The fish processing sector has not achieved expected export returns with respect to the growth rate of aquaculture and overall fish production. Lack of technical production knowledge on high quality and safe products prevents proper utilisation of the available carp and catfish from aquaculture.

To improve fish processing in Bangladesh, the limitations of current practices were studied in comparison to processing practices in Iceland. Long, complicated fish supply chains, shortage of technical skills, and weak safety and quality management systems were identified as the major obstacles in the Bangladesh fish processing industry. Based on information gained in Iceland, a comprehensive handling, processing and quality management system has been suggested for Bangladesh and a set of recommendations made to implement this practice.