eFish – An Innovative Fresh Fish Evaluation System

Abstract

Portugal is a country with a large coastal extension and a fishing and sea tradition which place it on the top of fresh, salty and deep-frozen fish consumption in the European Union. The incapacity by consumers to evaluate the degree of freshness and quality of fish for consumption may cause health problems, such as food poisoning, hence the preference of consumers for deep-frozen products instead of healthier fish that is sold fresh. In this project we intend to contribute to an improvement in the evaluation by the final consumer of the quality of fresh fish sold to them through creating a reference table of fish degradation (at this experimental stage for mackerel and sardine) and the development of a mobile application allowing, in a near future, for users to determine the rate of freshness of fish they wish to acquire. The reference table creation is based on the degradation/dehydration of the fish’s eye as well as a respective coloration (opaqueness), which changes according to the time since the fish was caught.