102 



COMMERCIAL FISHERIES REVIEW 



Vol. 28, No. 7 



cordance with the authority contained in Ti- 

 tle II of the Agricultural Marketing Act of 

 August 14, 1946, as amended (7 U.S.C. 1621- 

 1627). The proposed standards would be is- 

 sued as an amendment by the addition of a 

 new Part 271. 



The new Part 271, U. S. Standards for 

 Grades of Frozen Headless Dressed Whiting 

 includes sections on: (1) description of prod- 

 uct; (2) grades of frozen headless dressed 

 whiting; (3) determination of the grade; (4) 



definitions and methods of analysis; and (5) 

 tolerances for certification of officially drawn 

 samples. 



Interested persons were given the oppor- 

 tunity to submit written comments, sugges- 

 tions, or objections on the proposed stand- 

 ards for grades of frozen headless dressed 

 whiting. 



The Notice of Proposed Rule Making as 

 published in the Federal Register follows: 



DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR 



Fish and Wildlife Service 



[ 50 CFR Part .271 ] 



FROZEN HEADLESS DRESSED 

 WHITING 



U.S. Standards for Grades 



Notice is liereby given that pursuant 

 to the authority vested in the Secretary 

 of the Interior by section 6(a) of the Fish 

 and WUdUfe Act of August 8, 1956 (16 

 U.S.C. 742e), it is proposed to amend 

 Title 50 Code of Federal Regulations by 

 the addition of a new Part 271. The 

 purpose of this amendment is to issue 

 standards for grades of frozen headless 

 dressed whiting in accordance with the 

 authority contained in Title II of the 

 Agricultural Mai'keting Act of August 14, 

 1946, as amended (7 U.S.C. 1621-1627). 



It is the policy of the Department of 

 the Interior whenever practicable, to af- 

 ford the public an opportunity to par- 

 ticipate in the rule malting process. 

 Accordingly, interested persons may sub- 

 mit written comments, suggestions, or 

 objections with respect to the proposed 

 amendment to the Director, Bureau of 

 Commercial Fisheries. U.S. Fish and 

 Wildlife Service, Washington, D.C., 20240. 

 witiiin 30 days of the date of publication 

 of this notice in the Federal Register. 



Donald L. McKernan, 

 Director. 

 May 12, 1966. 



PART 271— U.S. STANDARDS FOR 

 GRADES OF FROZEN HEADLESS 

 DRESSED WHITING ' 



Sec. 

 271.1 

 271.2 



271.11 

 271.21 

 271.25 



Description of the product. 



Grades of frozen headless dressed 

 whiting. 



Determination of the grade. 



Definitions and methods of analysis. 



Tolerances for certification of offi- 

 cially drawn samples. 



Attthomtt: The provisions of this Part 

 271 are Issued under sec. 6, 70 Stat. 1122; 16 

 U.S.C. § 742e; and sees. 203 and 205, 60 Stat. 

 1087, 1090, as amended; 7 U.S.C. 1622, 1624. 



§ 271.1 Descriplion of the product. 



The product described In this part con- 

 sists of clean, wholesome whiting (silver 

 halce) merluccius bilinearis, merluccius 

 albidus; completely and c leanly headed 



'Compliance with the provisions of these 

 standards shall not excuse failure to com- 

 ply with the provisions of the Federal Food, 

 Drug, and Cosmetic Act. 



and adequately eviscerated. The fish ai'e 

 packaged and frozen in accordance with 

 good commercial practice and are main- 

 tained at temperatures necessary for the 

 preservation of the product. 



§271.2 Grades of frozen headless 

 dressed whiting. 



(a) "U.S. Grade A" is the quality of 

 frozen headless dressed whiting that (1) 

 possess a good flavor and odor and that 

 (2) for those factors that are rated in 

 accordance with the scoring system out- 

 lined in this part, have a total score of 

 85 to 100 points. 



(b) "U.S. Grade B" is the quality of 

 frozen headless dressed whiting that < 1 ) 

 possess at least reasonably good flavor 

 and odor and that (2) rate a total score 

 of not less than 70 points lor those fac- 

 tors of quality that are rated in accord- 



ance with the scoring system outlined 

 in this part. 



(c) "Substandard" or "UtUity" is the 

 quality of frozen headless dressed whit- 

 ing that meet the requirements of § 271-1 

 but that otherwise fail to meet the re- 

 quirements of "U.S. Grade B." 



§ 271.11 Determination of the grade. 



In a plan under Continuous USDI 

 Inspection the grade is determined by 

 examining the product for factors 1-10 

 in the thawed state and factor 11 in the 

 cooked state. For lot inspection, exam- 

 ination of the product for factors 1, 2, 

 and 3 is carried out in the frozen state 

 and 4-10 in the thawed state. Factor 11 

 is examined in the cooked state. 



(a) Focfors rated by score points. 

 Points are deducted for variations in the 

 quality of each factor in accordance with 

 the schedule in Table 1. The total of 



Table 1.— Sckedi'i.e of Poi.vt Dedittions per Sample 

 frozen state (l-ot inspection om,y) 





Factors scored 



Motliod of determining score 



Deduct 



1 



Arrangement of product ' 



Small degree: 10 percent of fish twisted or bellies and backs 



not facing the same direction. 

 Large degree: More tlian 10 percent of flsh twisted, void 



present or some flsh cross packed. 



2 

 5 



2 



Condition of packaging (overall 



assessment). 



Poor: Packaging material has been soaked, softened or 

 deteriorated. 



2 



3 



Dehydration 



Small degree: Slight dehydration of the exposed surfaces. 

 Large degree: Deep dehydration of the exposed surfaces 



2 

 5 



THAWED STATE 



4 



Minimum size: Fish 2 oz. or 

 over arc of acceptable size. 



Number of fl.-ih less than 2 oz. per lb.: 



5 

 10 

 20 

 30 











5 



Uniformity; Weight ratio of 

 fish remaining. The 10 per- 

 cent largest fish divided oy 

 the 10 percent smallest flsh.' 



Weight ratio 10 percent smallest and 10 percent largest: 



2 

 5 

 10 

 20 

 30 













6 



Heading i 





6 

 15 



Moderate degree: Over 10 percent of tlsh carelessly cut 



7 



Evisceration (overall assess- 

 ment). 





2 



Moderate dcgiee: Moderate amounts of spawn, viscera, etc. 





8 



Scaling > 





2 







9 



Color of the exposed surfaces 

 (overall assessment). 





2 



S 







10 



Bruises and split or broken 

 Ektn. 



Presence of bruises and/or broken or split skin per pound: 



1 

 2 

 4 

 7 

 10 













