Scallop soaking used only in north

Press, 23 September 1987, Page 3

Scallop soaking used only in north

By

RICHARD

CRESSWELL, fishing reporter The South Island scal-

; lop industry does not ap- , pear to have been part of 1 a soaking practice used ! by North Island proces--1 sors to increase the

; weight and the price of < scallops. ■ Mr Russell Armitage,

I the assistant general > manager of the New Zea- : ; land Fishing Industry . Board, said three or four *’ processors in the AuckI land area had been soak- • ing the scallops in water J before they were frozen/ • to Increase the weight. ’ Buyers such as Wool- « worths and L. D. Nathans «. had discovered the practice after the scallops lost too much weight when - thawed.

After thawing, about 2 per cent of the meat weight is normally lost, but Mr Armitage said the weight loss for soaked scallops was considerably higher. The Fishing Industry Board will meet next week to discuss the report by an Auckland consultancy firm which specialises in the testing of export products. Mr Armitage said he was unsure how long the soaking had been going on, but he suspected it had begun this season. The board had written to all scallop packers in New Zealand warning them that the practice was unacceptable and although not an offence under fishing regulations was certainly an offence

under the Fair Trading Act, and a “deceitful and misleading practice” under the Commerce Act. The Commerce Commission also said that the practice of soaking was misleading. “We take such practices very seriously — the offenders could face a fine under the Commerce Act, and if the company has an export licence the board would be reviewing it,” said Mr Armitage.

The action could damage the name of New Zealand’s fishing industry both overseas and for domestic markets. ■

“Scallop soaking has been used in Australia, and we don’t want to be associated with that.”