Diseases caused by seafood consumption

What is happening in the southern cone?

By Carlos A. Lima dos Santos

Following a historical review of the regional conjuncture, it has come to attention that there is very few statistic information available about diseases transmitted through fish consumption amongst the countries of the southern cone. Even so, the limited amount of available data indicate that biotoxin poisoning and parasitical illness would be the diseases which prevention and control deserve greater attention and efforts. In this article, analysis are being conducted with little information available, taken from registers from Argentina, Brazil, Chile and Uruguay, and then compared with similar data from the USA.

 

Flow diagrams

By Héctor M. Lupin

It is often thought that designing a flow diagram is an easy task. But it is usually only the beginning of a complex process, and it will have to cover a wide range of aspects for it to become useful. This article proposes a systematic methodology for the elaboration of modern flow diagrams for the seafood industry, based on an epidemiological study about the safety problems on the food chain in the United Kingdom, and using a small-scale hake production chain in Chile, as an example. 

 

Uruguayan fishery industry develops a  Fishing Vessel Surveillance System

By Enrique Bertullo and Diego Riva Zuccelli

Uruguayan private fishing companies have developed an onboard video surveillance system for their vessels. A lot of positive results came from this measure, including a better labor security ,an enhanced vessel production, personnel training and a better  verification of operations, both at sea and at the harbour.   

 

A new use for fish skin: gelatin production

By María Luiza R. Souza Franco and collaborators

Gelatin has been used in the pharmaceutical, photographic, food and cosmetic  industries for years. It is usually obtained from mammal furs, although this trend has been lately limited due to several reasons. Now, fish can be an interesting alternative. This article describes the characterization and extraction of the gelatin obtained from Nile Tilapia (Oreochromis niltoticus) preserved by different methods.

 

Aquaculture in Amazonia, a challenge for sustainability

The main characteristic of Amazonia is its biodiversity. The size of its watershed is such that it contributes with a fifth of the world's fresh water. It is projected that about 6000 species of fresh water fish live in its rivers, creeks and lagoons, of which almost 2500 have already been catalogued and represent 30% of all fresh water species in the world. Furthermore, 75% of fish in Brazil are equivalent to all the species found in the Mississippi river (US) and Congo (Africa).