Hello everybody!
Stockfish is, in general, a traditional dried fish product produced from white fish. I do not know if there is a formal US definition of stockfish (NMFS?). In any case the OECD Multilingual Dictionary of Fish and Fish Products (one of the necessary companions of anybody dealing with fish) states:
"Stockfish: (i) Gutted, headed, unsplit or split fish, such as cod, coalfish, haddock and hake, dried hard without salt in open air"
A second meaning (in the same dictionary) is:
"(ii) Name also used to designate CAPE HAKE (Merluccius capensis)"
This means that "stockfish" is in general a dried fish product [from my old measurements Aw ~ 0.6 (*)] and in some places it may designate a fish (common name) of the Merluccius spp. The OECD Dictionary mentions Cape hake, but it is possible that, with time, such a common denomination spread to other members of the hake family. The dried product is still available in a number of European countries (e.g. Italy) because it is at the basis of some traditional dishes.
Definitions were taken from the 1984 version of the OECD dictionary. This, in the case of very old type of products, like is the case of stockfish, it is not a bad thing; because it reflects the "historical consensus" on the definition of the product, before WTO (and free trade globalization). If you are looking on the definition of "stockfish" for trade purposes, I think that the above are suitable definitions.
(*) The addition to the trade specifications of the Aw value (or to the salt and moisture content corresponding to that Aw value) could be important. Very often the stockfish is soaked in water to gain weight (particularly at retailing), but it means that it will be prone to some forms of spoilage and a reduction of shelf life (putting aside the economic fraud).
Kind regards.
Hector M. Lupin
International Consultant
Fish Products Safety and Quality
(Former FAO-UN Senior Fishery Industry Officer)
hmlupin@libero.it
---------- Initial Header -----------
>From : owner-seafood@ucdavis.edu
To : ask@askonsulting.com.au,"samuel joseph" seatechtrade@hotmail.com, seafood@ucdavis.edu
Cc : pdtom@ucdavis.edu
Date : Wed, 7 Nov 2007 13:59:06 -0800
Subject : RE: stockfish
> Here is the info:
>
>
>
> Market name(s)
>
> Whiting
>
> Scientific name
>
> Merluccius bilinearis
>
> Common name
>
> Silver Hake
>
> Vernacular name(s)
>
> American Hake
>
> Silverfish
>
> Stockfish
>
> Winter Trout
>
> Frostfish
>
>
>
>
>
> Mike Jamehdor, M.S.
>
> QA/QC Director
>
> Certi-Fresh Foods, Inc.
>
> T 562-806-1100
>
> F 562-806-9110
>
> Mjamehdor@certi-fresh.com
>
>
>
> ________________________________
>
> From: owner-seafood@ucdavis.edu [mailto:owner-seafood@ucdavis.edu] On
> Behalf Of Alan Snow Konsulting
> Sent: Wednesday, November 07, 2007 1:45 PM
> To: 'samuel joseph'; seafood@ucdavis.edu
> Cc: pdtom@ucdavis.edu
> Subject: RE: stockfish
>
>
>
> G'day group
>
>
>
> This one got me interested as I had not heard of the term prior tot his
> e-mail
>
>
>
> I just did a quick search and came up with the following reference -
> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stockfish whixh sems to be saying that
> Stockfish is dried unsalted fish - normally Cod.
>
>
>
> This definition was verified at
> http://www.fishbase.org/Glossary/Glossary.cfm?TermEnglish=Stockfish
>
>
>
> Hope this helps somewhat
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
> Alan Snow
>
>
>
> Alan Snow Konsulting
>
> 44 Marie Street
>
> MURARRIE Qld 4172
>
> Australia
>
>
>
>
>
> Phone 0418 199 516
>
> 07 3390 6220
>
> skype-in 07 3102 3293
>
> e-mail ask@askonsulting.com.au
>
> website www.askonsulting.com.au
>
> skype alansnow
>
>
>
> Got a fishy problem - just ASK <http://www.askonsulting.com.au>
>
> ________________________________
>
> From: owner-seafood@ucdavis.edu [mailto:owner-seafood@ucdavis.edu] On
> Behalf Of samuel joseph
> Sent: Thursday, 8 November 2007 7:24 AM
> To: seafood@ucdavis.edu
> Cc: pdtom@ucdavis.edu
> Subject: stockfish
>
>
>
> Good Day All,
>
>
>
> I got an enquiery from United States for Stockfish. What
> exactly is stockfish? what are the US standards and specification for
> the same? Kindly provide some details on this.
>
>
>
> Thanks in advance,
>
>
>
> Samuel.
>
>
>
>
>
>
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