Following the audit missions carried out by DG SANTE in Spain on the tuna sector, the need was detected for a study to be carried out by the sector to provide real data on freezing processes in brine and, where appropriate, the levels of histamine that could be produced, evaluating the individual capacity of each tuna vessel to complete freezing in brine to -18ºC in the number of hours established by the health authorities and thus be able to use it for direct consumption.
In this sense, PEVASA participated in the working group created ad hoc in the sector together with the authorities and joined the initiative by providing the necessary freezing data for its evaluation.
As a result of this activity of reporting tuna freezing data in brine, the PEVASA vessel “PLAYA DE RIS”, currently operating in the Indian Ocean, has been the first to pass the internal criteria for the validation of the freezing process of tuna in brine at -18ºC.
The data collected is the result of the crew efforts and technical office staff, reporting and analysing data from different tides and sets, taking into account the layout of the tanks and the tuna content in them. The data have been collected thanks to the introduction of temperature recorders inside the tuna to know exactly the evolution of the temperature once the tuna has been caught and the freezing process has started.
Other vessels in the PEVASA fleet are currently continuing this evaluation work by providing data and we hope that they will soon be validated to market tuna for direct human consumption.