Quality Inspection Guidelines for Norwegian wild bluefin tuna

Abstract

This document serves as a comprehensive industry guideline for quality inspection of Norwegian bluefin tuna on land, with the aim of providing a shared understanding and standardized framework for evaluating and communicating quality. Different parts of bluefin tuna are used to evaluate different quality attributes including appearance, colour, fat content, freshness and the presence of yake (burnt tuna syndrome). To each attribute, a grading scale of 1-5 is employed to allow numerical evaluation in this guideline. The most critical items are colour, fat content and the occurrence of yake, with the remaining attributes serving as supplementary evaluations. The fish should be placed on a well-lit platform to allow visual inspection of whole body. In some circumstances inspection may be done at landing or during packing. It is standard practice to assess all items at once (or within a short timeframe) ensuring that both freshness and quality attributes are considered during the inspection. Visual inspection involves the assessment of fish body for freshness, shape and any damage or defects. The quality evaluation of half-moon sample primarily focuses on the colour and fat content. (刺棒) is a tool used to detect two major quality effects of tuna fish, yake and mure and to assess the colour of the red meat of the fish. Finally, the body temperature of the fish is a highly effective indicator of storage condition, yake, and overall freshness. Scoring criteria for evaluation of each quality attribute is provided. The market price of individual tuna fish is heavily influenced by the supply-demand balance and preferences of potential buyers and respective markets. No matter how highly rated a fish is by quality inspection, it cannot fetch a high price in a market with excessive supply. Nonetheless, it is possible to elevate the position of the Norwegian tuna, through rigorous and proper evaluations, by providing consistently exceptional quality through high standards of handling and processing. To achieve this, collaboration among fishermen, processors, and distributors is crucial. In this regard creating common evaluation framework and language is vital for aligning with market expectations, facilitating B2B communication and fostering continuous growth within the bluefin tuna industry.