Seafood processors will attend a training session from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m., Friday, Aug. 27, to learn to assist the seafood industry in providing additional evidence for seafood safety in the Gulf of Mexico.
The Harvest from Open Waters (HOW) training will take place at the Cypress Workshop at the University of South Alabama Brookley Complex, 4170 Commanders Drive, in Mobile.
Gulf of Mexico Sea Grant and Cooperative Extension seafood faculty from the Gulf region developed the program to update current seafood safety approaches and add sensory and analytical screening for safety in the wake of the Deepwater Horizon oil leak.
Trainers will add oil from the Deepwater Horizon oil spill to different types of Gulf seafood during the sensory training. Participants will learn how to identify unsafe seafood based on appearance, texture, odor and taste/flavor.
The training is for primary seafood processors, which are processors who get their seafood directly from fishermen.
Processors also will be trained on new Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Points (HACCP) procedures and how to modify their HACCP plans to include a chain of custody for Gulf seafood.
The training is sponsored by Mississippi-Alabama Sea Grant, Florida Sea Grant and the Alabama Cooperative Extension System.