PRE-HARVEST PREPARATION

Sampling the fish

If a cage is going to be harvested for the first time, it is a good practice to sample the fish a few days before the harvest to check the mean weight and size distribution. Sampling will verify that the sampled weight corresponds to the expected weight. This will avoid harvesting a batch of fish that have not yet reached the required market size.

Starving the fish

It is important to starve the fish before harvesting to keep the process as clean and stress-free as possible. Starving the fish will serve the following purposes:
• Prevent partly digested feed from being regurgitated into the transport bins, or faecal matter being released, which can foul the ice or brine slurry.
Remove residual feed from the intestine, which increases shelf-life because undigested feed will decompose.

• Reduce the overall stress of the stocked fish: it is a good practice to starve the fish prior to any handling (harvesting, transfers, net changing, etc.) as it has been noted that it increases the resistance of the fish to these stressful events.
If fish have been fed with medicated feed, make sure that the proper withdrawal period has passed before they are harvested.

Preparing the equipment

Organize all the necessary equipment in advance, including nets, bins, divers' gear and scuba air cylinders. Verify quantities of ice to be sure that a proper amount will be transported to the cage site (see section below on processing and packaging).
If a cage is going to be harvested for the first time, it will be densely stocked and harvest operations must be carried out carefully. Farm staff must avoid catching an excessive number of fish (see above considerations). It is recommended that a diver inspect the stock inside the cage a couple of hours after harvesting in order to verify that the remaining fish have not suffered from the harvesting operation.