(introduction...)

Fish processing is a fairly wide field, covering a large number of processing techniques, fish species and fish products. Given the purpose of this technical memorandum, the types of fish species, fish products and processing technologies for which detailed information is provided have been restricted to those of interest to small-scale producers in developing countries.

The first section of this chapter describes some of the fish species covered by the memorandum. The following two sections provide a brief description of processing methods, and suggest a few measures for avoiding the spoilage of fish before, during and after processing. The following chapters will provide detailed technical information on the processing methods described in this chapter.