Promoting a Quality Approach

BIM is involved in a number of programmes that assist fishermen to land and market high quality, responsibly caught seafood through their local cooperative. BIM has also set up third-party accredited schemes for aquaculture that guarantee a top quality product. All of these schemes fall under the umbrella of the Quality Seafood Programme (QSP).

The Quality Seafood Programme (QSP) is a recognisable assurance scheme for both wild and farmed seafood that allows members to demonstrate their commitment to the environment as well as to producing an excellent product.

The Quality Seafood Programme (QSP) consists of separate quality assurance programmes for both the wild fisheries and aquaculture sectors, independently accredited to international standards EN45011 / ISO-65, the international ‘gold standard’ for product certification.

Quality-labelled products are highly sought after by seafood retailers, food service buyers and consumers. The QSP enables industry to clearly label their produce as Irish fish caught or farmed to the highest quality standards using responsible fishing and environmental practices.

The Quality Seafood Programme has been well established in the aquaculture sector and various schemes have been successfully rolled out including Irish Quality Salmon, Irish Quality Mussels, Irish Quality Oysters etc.

Eco-certification, alongside quality certification provides an opportunity to distinguish the Irish Aquaculture Product on the global market, while positively managing the local environment that sustains the sector. There are currently standards for eco-salmon and eco-mussels.

The QSP has been developed to encompass wild caught Irish fish brining all schemes across the fishing industry under the QSP umbrella and into one identifiable brand. In order to apply for this standard, Irish fishermen, co-ops, processors and retailers must satisfy the requirements of the BIM Seafood Stewardship Standard, a national standard also accredited to EN45011; ISO 65 and ratified by the Irish National Accreditation Board (INAB). Applicants will also have to provide evidence that they are adhering to a recognised Environmental Management System (EMS).

The Wild Fisheries Stewardship Standard is built upon the principles of Quality, Provenance and Responsibility and includes elements on care of the catch, traceability and provenance, environmental management and education and awareness.

BIM’s quality guides for pelagic and whitefish help fishermen to assess the quality of their product, and encourage them to implement good management practices to handle, gut, ice, pack and store fish in order to maintain or improve that quality. Both general and species specific guides are available. 

BIM’s work with cooperatives under the Seafood Development Programme takes the approach one step further and encourages both a quality and environmental attitude to seafood assurance from the sea to the plate. A number of successful pilot projects are currently underway.

Traceability is also an important part of a quality-led supply chain approach to seafood marketing, and BIM is well placed to advise on putting a traceability system in place.