Shellfish

Preparing shellfish for sale

Once ashore, shellfish needs to be prepared for sale according to hygiene standards and can either be sold live or sent to a processing plant for cooked end-products. All your processing equipment must be food grade. 

Shellfish depuration

Only shellfish from Category A waters (see ‘Water quality’) can go straight to the market if the other health standards are met (see ‘End-product testing’). Otherwise, you need to depurate your shellfish until it has permitted levels of E.coli as classified by Food Standards Scotland. 

In depuration, live shellfish are put into sterilised seawater systems to clean themselves. You can either send your produce to a depuration facility or set up your own. 

If you run your own depuration system, the premises need to be approved by your local authority.

Find out more:

• Official controls of shellfish purification systems, Food Standards Scotland
• Bivalve shellfish purification, Seafish
• Bivalve Purification Operations Training, Seafish

Packaging

Live shellfish is often packaged in bags made from a variety of different materials, which needs to be approved for being in contact with food. Read the legislation on packaging materials. 

Shells must be cleaned and be undamaged. You will also need commercial scales to weigh your produce and comply with legal rules around packing and weight of the produce.

Labelling & traceability 

You need to label your shellfish properly to ensure that customers are being given correct information about the product, and that the produce can be tracked through the supply chain. This is a legal requirement, and you are liable for false claims. 

The general rules about food labelling apply to shellfish, and there are also additional requirements.

Read more in the Seafish guides on food labelling:

• General food labelling regulations, Seafish
• Fish traceability laws, Seafish
• The Fish Labelling Regulations, Seafish

End-product testing 

You are legally responsible for ensuring the shellfish you sell is safe to eat. You might need to test your produce for biotoxins before putting it on the market, particularly if it was harvested during a warning period (see ‘Biotoxins’). Biotoxins in shellfish can be checked with testing kits.

Food Standards Scotland has a guide on managing shellfish toxin risks. 

Read about end-product testing for shellfish toxins in the Food Standards Agency guide, and in this quick reference guide on toxin tests.

Find out more:

• Legal safety limits for shellfish toxins on Food Standards Scotland
• Legislation to control contaminants in seafood, Seafish