Consumer Education and Product Quality 
Successful market development rests on the con- 
sumer’s satisfaction with the delivered product. This 
is clearly an obstacle to the development of under- 
used species where different tastes and textures are 
not readily accepted. 
Built into consumer satisfaction is the integrity of 
the product—consistent quality. Because fish are 
highly perishable, the need for quality control is 
essential. 
Unlike the mandatory inspections of meat and 
poultry by the Department of Agriculture, there are 
no similar mandatory requirements for fish and fish 
product inspection despite the recommendation for 
such requirements by the “Eastland Survey” and the 
National Plan for Marine Fisheries. What does exist 
is a voluntary inspection performed by NMFS. These 
inspections are done at the request of, and paid for 
by, the processors and distributors desiring to assure 
the quality of their product and hoping to improve 
sales, because their items carry a Federal seal of ap- 
proval. 
It is to be noted, however, that merely requesting 
an official inspection does not guarantee approval of 
the products. If a processing plant does not meet the 
approval of the inspector, it may be closed down until 
the problem, usually one of sanitation, is resolved. 
At the present time, Federal inspectors handle only 
3 percent of the domestic fish processing plants and 
30 percent of U.S. processed fishery products. This is 
not to suggest that the remaining fish go unchecked 
before they are marketed. The Food, Drug, and Cos- 
metic Act designates the Food and Drug Adminis- 
tration (FDA) to assure that all food, including fish 
and shellfish and products derived from them, in- 
volved in interstate commerce is safe, pure, whole- 
some, and processed under sanitary conditions. Fur- 
thermore, the Act, as amended, requires that imported 
seafood products attain these standards as well. FDA 
fulfills this responsibility by using a screening ap- 
proach—periodic spot checks on domestic processing 
plants and selected lots of imported fish and fish 
products—before they are brought into the United 
States for sale and distribution. Like FDA inspectors 
in other parts of the food industry, they usually arrive 
without warning and collect samples for laboratory 
analysis. 
The fish and fish products not subject to Federal 
law or regulation are those stocks. such as gamefish, 
which are consumed in the same State they are caught 
and processed, hence not involved in interstate com- 
merce. 
Situations do arise where Federal guidance is ap- 
propriate at the State level. The recent contamination 
of the James River, Va., with kepone is such a case. 
In a related function, NMFS is involved in research 
on environmental contaminants that are prone to 
accumulate in fish and are maintained in the proc- 
essed product as well. Contaminant constituents in- 
clude: organic, such as PCBs; heavy metals, including 
mercury and lead; and petroleum and petroleum 
products. 
The NMFS Seafood Quality and Inspection Divi- 
sion administers the voluntary inspection program 
and also promulgates standards and specifications for 
sanitation, grade identity, and nomenclature for fish 
and fish products. In their entirety the categories for 
these standards are the components which make up 
quality—the concern of the consumer. 
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