Assuring the freshness and quality of aquacultured fish

Aquaculture can produce a product of known quality. The fish technologists must handle and process the fish to optimize consumer quality. The final judge of quality is the consumer, not a laboratory test. Post-mortem changes in fish lead to changes in flavor, odor, texture, and appearance of fish. The role of the technologist is to measure and characterize these changes to determine the ''state-of-the-fish'' and then to have consumers (in the target market) determine what they prefer. For example, some species have their maximum sweetness after 2 to 8 days, others become neutral (bland) after 11 days. Laboratory tests are only valuable if they correlate with consumer perceptions, and, thus, must be correlated to marketplace perceptions. K-value, Torry freshness, trimethylamine (or total volatile bases), etc. can be useful, but only if properly applied.