St. Jeans Tuna Policy

Derby

Crew Member
Hi Guys,
Just hearing some stories regarding St. Jeans this year... So I talked to Lance @ St. Jeans regarding getting tuna process...... this is the current procedure for u are asked to follow...
SQA Policy for Handling of Sport Caught Tuna to be processed by St Jeans:

Sport Caught Tuna will be accepted for further processing by St Jeans under the following guidelines:
1) Handling on the boat – Tuna should be bleed in a salt/ice slurry immediately after being caught to lower the core temperature quickly. Tuna should then be packed on ice in the round on the boat until returning to shore.
2) Fresh Handling when returned to port – If tuna is to be transported fresh on ice to St Jeans – it must be well iced and arrive at either the processing plant at St Jeans Nanaimo, or our St Jeans store drop offs in either Port Alberni or Campbell River no more than 3 days after being caught. St Jeans staff will ask for the catch date and location and may perform a temperature check before accepting tuna for processing. A rush fee may apply if dropping off at either Port Alberni or Campbell River locations depending on timing/trucking schedules and condition of fish.
3) Frozen Handling when returned to port – If tuna is to be transported frozen to St Jeans – it should be either blast frozen individually in the round the day it is retruned to port and kept frozen for transport to St Jeans, or it may be headed and gutted and immediately blast frozen individually for transport to St Jeans.
4) St Jeans will not accept any Sport Caught Tuna Loins or filets for further processing whether they are fresh or frozen.
 
Just curious, as I do my own canning and the whatnot, why will they not take loins?
Is it because they can't be sure of the quality and how the fish was treated prior to being carked?
 
U would be correct.. there is draft SFAB paper on proper tuna handling and it address how important it is that we ice down our fish and fish to our ice capacity of our boats... As its a draft only I really cannot put it out there yet. The SFAB tuna committee will have it vetted and out for general public this fall.. Ill see if I can post a small snip it on the importance of the icing procedure...


As Tuna tend to be warmer in temperature than the water they came from, they require special care and consideration when it comes to handling. Different procedures need to be deployed than those utilized for Salmon, Halibut and other ground fish species.
Tuna tend to contain higher amounts of “histidine” in their flesh. Histidine is a type of amino acid that is converted into “Histamine” by bacterial enzymes once the fish is deceased. The rate of this conversion is increased by temperature, so it is important that all tuna are handled properly to avoid spoilage.
The consumption of fish containing high levels of histamine can result in “scombroid poisoning”. Scombroid or Histamine poisoning often resembles an allergic reaction, and most victims recover within 24 hrs. On rare occurrence’s, scombroid poisoning has resulted in death.
 
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I believe I have seen a recent article relating to this draft paper that may have been in Islander Fisherman...cant remember for sure...

Thanks Deryk.
 
Interesting that they won't take fresh, iced loins. You can still tell the quality of an iced loin IMO.

St Jeans does an excellent job. I've never had them process my fish but have tasted some that they've done. Great stuff.
 
Interesting that they won't take fresh, iced loins. You can still tell the quality of an iced loin IMO.

St Jeans does an excellent job. I've never had them process my fish but have tasted some that they've done. Great stuff.

Yup agree... There our some who are not doing a good icing job & limiting there kill to their ice .. There are eye's always watching the sport industry as I'm sure we will hear comment this fall when we sit down at the tuna advisory board ....
 
Yup agree... There our some who are not doing a good icing job & limiting there kill to their ice .. There are eye's always watching the sport industry as I'm sure we will hear comment this fall when we sit down at the tuna advisory board ....

I hear ya. We all need bigger boats... Hah


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Interesting that they won't take fresh, iced loins. You can still tell the quality of an iced loin IMO.

St Jeans does an excellent job. I've never had them process my fish but have tasted some that they've done. Great stuff.

This is likely a chain of custody issue. Loins could come into a plant previously infected via cross contamination and the list of posable contaminants is long. For the same reason the heads must be left on.
Certain contaminants could shut down a processing plant like St Jeans. My guess anyway.
 
Ya good point. Could have everything to do with the process. Skipping a step could jeopardize other fish already cleared for processing etc.


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Thanks for the heads up, much appreciated!!!!
I popped in to their depot at the South Terminal in Van a few months ago and they were accepting whole or loined. The guy actually suggested loining to lower costs, good to know as I'll be going in 2 weeks to Westport and plan on sending some to get canned.
 
This past Saturday, I took our properly boat chilled and ice packed tuna down to St Jeans at the South Terminal at YVR less than 24hrs after it was caught. They refused to accept them, said they needed to be gutted.
 
This past Saturday, I took our properly boat chilled and ice packed tuna down to St Jeans at the South Terminal at YVR less than 24hrs after it was caught. They refused to accept them, said they needed to be gutted.

It sounds like they need to get all of their depots on board with their policy. I have been going to the Nananimo depot for the past 4 years and they want them as per the policy Derby posted up. Birdsnest's explanation is spot on in why they have this policy. They don't want any cross contamination between blood and flesh. Properly bled, chilled, iced, and no knife cuts (i.e. gutting or heads off). Brain spiking is acceptable. It is all about liability.

They have ways to tell if the fish have been chilled quickly and properly. The look for wrinkles along the belly to the tail. They hold the fish near the tail for half a minute to see if it keeps getting colder. They look at the color of the skin and eyes.

I fully understand their standpoint and respect their policy. I have never been turned away and every time they have said my fish were taken care of properly.


Thank you Derby for getting this out there and getting folks talking about it on here. IMO the care of the catch is the next most important part of this fishery after safety. If we want to continue enjoying this excellent fishery we need to go about it responsibly :).
 
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