Council Regulation(EC) No 2406/96Dangos y teitl llawn

ANNEX I U.K. FRESHNESS RATINGS

The ratings established in this Annex apply to the following products or groups of products, by reference to appraisal criteria specific to each of them.

A. Whitefish U.K.

Haddock, cod, saithe, pollack, redfish, whiting, ling, hake, Ray's bream, anglerfish, pouting and poor cod, bogue, picarel, conger, gurnard, mullet, plaice, megrim, sole, dab, lemon sole, flounder, scabbard fish.

B. Bluefish U.K.

Albacore or longfinned tuna, bluefin tuna, bigeye tuna, blue whiting, herring, sardines, mackerel, horse mackerel, anchovy[F1 , sprat].

Textual Amendments

F1 Inserted by Commission Regulation (EC) No 790/2005 of 25 May 2005 amending Council Regulation (EC) No 2406/96 laying down common marketing standards for certain fishery products.

C. Selachii U.K.

Dogfish, skate.

D. Cephalopods U.K.

Cuttlefish.

E. Crustaceans U.K.

1.

Shrimps,

2.

Norway lobster.

A. WHITEFISH U.K.

F2 . . .
a Or in a more advanced state of decay.
b Fresh fish prior to the onset of rigor mortis will not be firm and elastic but will still be graded in category Extra.
	Criteria
	Freshness category			Not admitted
	Extra	A	B
Skin	Bright, iridescent pigment (save for redfish) or opalescent; no discolouration	Pigmentation bright but not lustrous	Pigmentation in the process of becoming discoloured and dull	Dull pigmentationa
Skin mucus	Aqueous, transparent	Slightly cloudy	Milky	Yellowish grey, opaque mucus
Eye	Convex (bulging); black, bright pupil; transparent cornea	Convex and slightly sunken; black dull pupil; slightly opalescent cornea	Flat; opalescent cornea; opaque pupil	Concave in the centre; grey pupil; milky corneaa
Gills	Bright colour; no mucus	Less coloured; transparent mucus	Brown/grey becoming discoloured; thick, opaque mucus	Yellowish; milky mucusa
Peritoneum (in gutted fish)	Smooth; bright; difficult to detach from flesh	Slightly dull; can be detached from flesh	Speckled; comes away easily from flesh	Does not sticka
Smell of gills and abdominal cavity				a
— whitefish other than plaice	Seaweedy	No smell of seaweed; neutral smell	Fermented; slightly sour	Sour
— plaice	Fresh oily; peppery; earthy smell	Oily; seaweedy or slightly sweetish	Oily; fermented; stale, slightly rancid	Sour
Flesh	Firm and elastic; smooth surfaceb	Less elastic	Slightly soft (flaccid), less elastic; waxy (velvety) and dull surface	Soft (flaccid)a; scales easily detached from skin, surface rather wrinkled
Extra criteria for headed anglerfish
Blood vessles (vental muscles)	Sharp outline and bright red	Sharp outline; darkening of the blood	Diffuse and brown	Totallya diffuse, brown and yellowing of the flesh

Textual Amendments

F2 Words in Annex 1 omitted (31.12.2020) by virtue of The Common Fisheries Policy (Amendment etc.) (EU Exit) Regulations 2019 (S.I. 2019/739), regs. 1, 20(9)(a); 2020 c. 1, Sch. 5 para. 1(1)

B. BLUEFISH U.K.

F3 . . .
F3 . . .
a Or in a more advanced state of decay.
b Iced fish goes rancid before stale, CSW/RSW fish goes stale before rancid.
	Criteria
	Freshness category			Not admitted
	Extra	A	B
Skin	Bright pigmentation, bright, shining iridescent colours; clear distinction between dorsal and central surfaces	Loss of lustre and shine; duller colours; less difference between dorsal and ventral surfaces	Dull, lustreless, insipid colours; skin creased when fish curved	Very dull pigmentation; skin coming away from flesha
Skin mucus	Aqueous, transparent	Slightly cloudy	Milky	Yellowish grey, opaque mucusa
Consistency of flesh	Very firm, rigid	Fairly rigid, firm	Slightly soft	Soft (flaccid)a
Gill covers	Silvery	Silvery, slightly red or brown	Brownish and extensive seepage of blood from vessels	Yellowisha
Eye	Convex, bulging; blue-black bright pupil, transparent ‘eyelid’	Convex and slightly sunken; dark pupil; slightly opalescent cornea	Flat; blurred pupil; blood seepage around the eye	Concave in the centre; grey pupil; milky corneaa
Gills	Uniformly dark red to purple. No mucus	Less bright colour, paler at edges. Transparent mucus	Becoming thick discoloured opaque mucus	Yellowish; milky mucusa
Smell of gills	Fresh seaweed; pungent; iodine	No smell or seaweed. Neutral smell	Slightly sulphureousb fatty smell, rancid bacon cuttings or rotten fruit	Rotten soura

Textual Amendments

F3 Words in Annex 1 omitted (31.12.2020) by virtue of The Common Fisheries Policy (Amendment etc.) (EU Exit) Regulations 2019 (S.I. 2019/739), regs. 1, 20(9)(b); 2020 c. 1, Sch. 5 para. 1(1)

F4 C. SELACHII U.K.

	Criteria
	Freshness category			Not admitted
	Extra	A	B
Eye	Convex, very bright and iridescent; small pupils	Convex and slightly sunken; loss of brightness and iridescence, oval pupils	Flat, dull	Concave yellowisha
Appearance	In rigor mortis or partially in rigor; small quantity of clear mucus present on skin	Beyond rigor stage; no mucus on skin and especially in mouth and gill openings	Some mucus in mouth and on gill openings; slightly flattened jaw	Large quantities of mucus in mouth and on gill openingsa
Smell	Seaweed smell	No smell or very slight stale but not an ammonia smell	Slight ammonia; sour	Pungent ammonia smella

Specific or additional criteria for skate
F4 . . .
a Or in a more advanced state of decay.
	Extra	A	B	Not admitted
Skin	Bright, iridescent and shiny pigmentation, aqueous mucus	Bright pigmentation, aqueuous mucus	Pigmentation in the process of becoming discoloured and dull, opaque mucus	Discolouration, skin creased, thick mucus
Texture of the flesh	Firm and elastic	Firm	Soft	Flaccid
Aspect	Edge ot the fins translucent and curved	Stiff fins	Soft	Drooping
Belly	White and shiny with a mauvish edge around the fins	White and shiny with red patches limited to around the fins	White and dull, with numerous red or yellow patches	Yellow to greenish bellies red patches in the flesh itself

Textual Amendments

F4 Words in Annex 1 omitted (31.12.2020) by virtue of The Common Fisheries Policy (Amendment etc.) (EU Exit) Regulations 2019 (S.I. 2019/739), regs. 1, 20(9)(c); 2020 c. 1, Sch. 5 para. 1(1)

D. CEPHALOPODS U.K.

	Criteria
	Freshness category
	Extra	A	B
Skin	Bright pigmentation, skin sticks to flesh	Dull pigmentation; skin sticks to flesh	Discoloured; easily detached from flesh
Flesh	Very firm; pearly white	Firm; chalky white	Slightly soft; pinky white or slightly yellowing
Tentacles	Resistant to removal	Resistant to removal	More easily removed
Smell	Fresh; seaweed	Slightly or no smell	Ink smell

E. CRUSTACEANS U.K.

1.

Shrimps

	Criteria
	Freshness category
	Extra	A
Minimum requirements	Surface of shell: moist and shiny Shrimps must fall out separately when transferred from one container to another Flesh must be free from any foreign odour Shrimps must be free from sand, mucus and other foreign bodies	The same as for Extra category
Appearance of:
1. shrimp with shell	Clear reddish-pink in colour with small white flecks; pectoral part of shell predominantly light in colour	— Ranging in colour from slightly washed-out reddish-pink to bluish-red with white flecks; pectoral part of shell should be light coloured tending towards grey
2. deep-water prawn	Uniformly pink	— Pink with possibility of start of blackening of head
Condition of flesh during and after shelling	Shells easily with only technically unavoidable losses of flesh Firm but not tough	Shells less easily with small losses of flesh Less firm, slightly tough
Fragments	Occasional fragments of shrimp allowed	Small quantity of fragments of shrimp allowed
Smell	Fresh seaweed, slightly sweet smell	Acidulous; no smell of seaweed

2.

Norway lobster

	Criteria
	Freshness category
	Extra	A	B
Shell	Pale pink or pink to orange-red	Pale pink or pink to orange-red; no black spots	Slight discoloration; some black spots and greyish colour, particularly on shell and between tail segments
Eye and gills	Shiny black eyes; pink gills	Eyes dull and grey/black; gills greyish	Gills dark grey or some greenish colour on dorsal surface of shell
Smell	Characteristic mild shellfish smell	Loss of characteristic shellfish smell. No ammonia smell	Slightly sour
Flesh (tail)	Translucent and blue in colour tending towards white	No longer translucent but not discoloured	Opaque and dull in appearance

ANNEX II U.K. SIZE CATEGORIES

a The categories of weights include fish from the lower limit up to, but excluding, the upper limit.
b For mackerel of both species, number of fish/25 kg.
c This table shall apply until 31 December 1997.
d This table shall apply from 1 January 1998.
e Width of shell.
f Width of shell at the widest point.
g Except Skagerrak and Kattegat.
h Skagerrak and Kattegat.
i Length of shell.
j Overall length.
Scale of weights				[F5 Minimum sizes to be observed in accordance with conditions laid down in legislation specifying minimum conservation reference sizes for relevant fish]
Species	Size	Kg/fisha	Number of fish/kgb	Region	Geographical area	Minimum size
[F6 Atlantic herring ( Clupea harengus )	1	0,250 and over	4 or less	1	ICES Vb (EC zone)	20 cm
	2	0,125 to 0,250	5 to 8	2		20 cm
	3	0,085 to 0,125	9 to 11		(a)	18 cm
	4(a)	0,050 to 0,085	12 to 20	3	(b)	20 cm
Baltic herring ( Clupea harengus ) caught and landed, south of 59 o 30′	4(b)	0,036 to 0,085	12 to 27
Baltic herring ( Clupea harengus ) caught and landed, north of 59 o 30′	4(c)	0,057 to 0,085	12 to 17
	5	0,031 to 0,057	18 to 32
	6	0,023 to 0,031	33 to 44
Baltic herring ( Clupea harengus ) caught and landed in waters under the sovereignty and jurisdiction of Estonia and Latvia	7(a)	0,023 to 0,036	28 to 44
	7(b)	0,014 to 0,023	45 to 70
Baltic herring ( Clupea harengus ) caught and landed in the Gulf of Riga	8	0,010 to 0,014	71 to 100 ]
Sardines (Sardina pilchardus)	1	0,067 and over	15 or less			not yet fixed
	2	0,042 to 0,067	16 to 24
	3	a 0,028 to 0,042	25 to 35
	4	0,015 to 0,028	36 to 67
Mediterranean		0,011 to 0,028	36 to 91
Spotted dogfish (Scyliorhinus spp.)	1	2 and over	—			—
	2	1 to 2
	3	0,5 to 1
Piked dogfish (Squalus acanthias)	1	2,2 and over	—			—
	2	1 to 2,2
	3	0,5 to 1
Redfish (Sebastes spp.)	1	2 and over	—			—
	2	0,6 to 2
	3	0,35 to 0,6
Cod (Gadus morhua)	1	7 and over	—	1		35 cm
	2	4 to 7		2	g	35 cm
	3	2 to 4			h	30 cm
	4	1 to 2		3		35 cm
	5	0,3 to 1		Baltic	South of 59o30′ N	35 cm
Saithe (Pollachius virens)	1	5 and over	—	1		35 cm
	2	3 to 5		2	g	35 cm
	3	1,5 to 3			h	30 cm
	4	0,3 to 1,5		3		35 cm
				Baltic	South of 59o30′ N	30 cm
Haddock (Melanogrammus aeglefinus)	1	1 and over	—	1	ICES Vb) (EC-zone)	30 cm
	2	0,57 to 1		2	g	30 cm
	3	0,37 to 0,57			h	27 cm
	4	0,17 to 0,37		3		30 cm
Whiting (Merlangius merlangus)	1	0,5 and over	—	1		27 cm
	2	0,35 to 0,5		2	g	23 cm
	3	0,25 to 0,35			h	23 cm
	4	0,11 to 0,25		3		23 cm
Ling (Molva spp.)	1	5 and over	—	1		—
	2	3 to 5		2	g	not yet fixed
	3	1,2 to 3			h	—
				3		63 cm
Mackerel of the species Scomber scombrus Mediterranean	1	0,5 and over	50 or less	1		20 cm
	2	0,2 to 0,5	51 to 125	2	Except North Sea	20 cm
	3	0,1 to 0,2	126 to 250		North Sea	30 cm
		0,08 to 0,2	126 to 325	3		20 cm
				5		20 cm
					Mediterranean	18 cm
Mackerel of the species Scomber japonicus	1	0,5 and over	—			—
	2	0,25 to 0,5
	3	0,14 to 0,25
	4	0,05 to 0,14
Anchovy (Engraulis spp.)	1	0,033 and over	30 or less	3	except ICES IXa)	12 cm
	2	0,020 to 0,033	31 to 50	3	ICES IXa)	10 cm
	3	0,012 to 0,020	51 to 83		Mediterranean	9 cm
	4	0,008 to 0,012	84 to 125
Plaice (Pleuronectes platessa)	1	0,6 and over	—	1		25 cm
	2	0,4 to 0,6		2	g	25 cm
	3	0,3 to 0,4			h	27 cm
	4	0,15 to 0,3			North Sea	27 cm
				3		25 cm
				Baltic	subdivisions 22 to 25	25 cm
					subdivisions 26 to 28	21 cm
					subdivisions 29 South of 59o30′ N	18 cm
Hake (Merluccius merluccius)	1	2,5 and over	—	1		30 cm
	2	1,2 to 2,5		2	g	30 cm
	3	0,6 to 1,2			h	30 cm
	4	0,28 to 0,6		3		27 cm
	5	0,2 to 0,28			Mediterranean	20 cm
Mediterranean		0,15 to 0,28
Megrim (Lepidorhombus spp.)	1	0,45 and over	—	1		25 cm
	2	0,25 to 0,45		2	g	25 cm
	3	0,20 to 0,25			h	25 cm
	4	0,11 to 0,20		3		20 cm
Mediterranean		0,05 to 0,20
Ray's bream (Brama spp.)	1	0,8 and over	—			—
	2	0,2 to 0,8
Anglerfish (Lophius spp.) whole, gutted	1	8 and over	—	1		—
	2	4 to 8		2	g	not yet fixed
	3	2 to 4			h	—
	4	1 to 2		3		not yet fixed
	5	0,5 to 1			Mediterranean	30 cm
Anglerfish (Lophius spp.) head removed	1	4 and over	—			—
	2	2 to 4
	3	1 to 2
	4	0,5 to 1
	5	0,2 to 0,5
Dab (Limanda limanda)	1	0,25 and over	—	1		15 cm
	2	0,13 to 0,25		2	g	15 cm
					h	23 cm
					North Sea	23 cm
				3		23 cm
Lemon sole (Microstomus kitt)	1	0,6 and over	—	1		25 cm
	2	0,35 to 0,6		2	g	25 cm
	3	0,18 to 0,35			h	25 cm
				3		25 cm
Albacore or long-finned tuna (Thunnus alalunga)	1	4 and over	—			—
	2	1,5 to 4
Blue-fin tuna (Thunnus thynnus)	1	70 and over	—		Mediterranean	70 cm or 6,4 kg
	2	50 to 70
	3	25 to 50
	4	10 to 25
	5	6,4 to 10
Big-eye tuna (Thunnus obesus)	1	10 and over	—			—
	2	3,2 to 10
Pollack (Pollachius pollachius)	1	5 and over	—	1		—
	2	3 to 5		2	g	30 cm
	3	1,5 to 3			h	—
	4	0,3 to 1,5		3		30 cm
Blue whiting (Micromesistius poutassou or Gadus poutassou)	1	—	7 or less			—
	2		8 to 14
	3		15 to 25
	4		26 to 30
Pouting (Trisopterus luscus) and Poor cod (Trisopterus minutus)	1	0,4 and over	—	3		not yet fixed
	2	0,25 to 0,4
	3	0,125 to 0,25
	4	0,05 to 0,125
Boghe (Boops boops)	1	—	5 or less			—
	2		6 to 31
	3		32 to 70
Picarel (Maena sararis)	1	—	20 or less			—
	2		21 to 40
	3		41 to 90
Conger eel (Conger conger)	1	7 and over	—	1		—
	2	5 to 7		2	g	58 cm
	3	0,5 to 5			h	—
				3		58 cm
Gurnard (Trigla spp.) Tub gurnard	1	1 and over	—			—
	2	0,4 to 1
	3	0,2 to 0,4
	4	0,06 to 0,2
Other Gurnard	1	0,25 and over
	2	0,2 — 0,25
Horse mackerel (Trachurus spp.)	1	0,6 and over	—	1		15 cm
	2	0,4 to 0,6		2		15 cm
	3	0,2 to 0,4		3		15 cm
	4	0,08 to 0,2		5		15 cm
	5	0,02 to 0,08			Mediterranean	12 cm
Mullet (Mugil spp.)	1	1 and over	—	1		—
	2	0,5 to 1		2	g	20 cm
	3	0,2 to 0,5			h	—
	4	0,1 to 0,2		3		20 cm
					Mediterranean	16 cm
Skate (Raja spp.)	1	5 and over	—			—
	2	3 to 5
	3	1 to 3
	4	0,3 to 1
Skate (wings)	1	3 and over	—			—
	2	0,5 to 3
Flounder (Platichthys Flesus)	1	over 0,3	—	1		24 cm
	2	0,2 to 0,3 inclusive		2	g	24 cm
					h	24 cm
				3		24 cm
				Baltic	subdivisions 22-25	25 cm
					subdivisions 26-28	21 cm
					subdivisions 29-32 South of 59o30′N	18 cm
Sole (Solea spp.)	1	0,5 and over	—	1		24 cm
	2	0,33 to 0,5		2	g	24 cm
	3	0,25 to 0,33			h	24 cm
	4	0,17 to 0,25		3		24 cm
	5	0,12 to 0,17c			Mediterranean	20 cm
	1	0,5 and over
	2	0,33 to 0,5
	3	0,25 to 0,35
	4	0,2 to 0,25
	5	0,12 to 0,2d
Frostfish (Lepidopus caudatus)	1	3 and over	—			—
	2	2 to 3
	3	1 to 2
	4	0,5 to 1
Black scabbardfish (Aphanopus carbo)	1	3 and over			—
	2	0,5 to 3
Cuttlefish (Sepia officinalis and Rossia macrosoma)	1	0,5 and over	—			—
	2	0,3 to 0,5
	3	0,1 to 0,3
Norway lobster (Nephrops norvegicus)	1	—	20 and less	2	Skagerrak and Kattegat	40 mmi
	2		21 to 30			130 mmj
	3		31 to 40	2	except Scotland Irish Sea	25 mmi
	4		over 40		[ICES VIa) and VIIa)],Skagerrak and Kattegat	85 mmj
				2	Western Scotland and Irish Sea	20 mmi
					[ICES VIa) and VIIa)]	70 mmj
				3		20 mmi
						70 mmj
					Mediterranean	20 mmi
						70 mmj
Norway lobster tails	1	—	60 and less	2	Skagerrak and Kattegat	72 mm
	2		61 to 120
	3		121 to 180	2	except Western Scotland, Irish Sea	46 mm
	4		over 180		[ICES VIa) and VIIa)], Skagerrak and Kattegat
				2	Western Scotland and Irish Sea [ICES VIa) and VIIa)]	37 mm
				3		37 mm
Crangonid shrimps (Crangon crangon)	1	6,8 mm and overe	—			—
	2	6,5 mm and over
Pandalid shrimps (Pandalus borealis) fresh or chilled	One size	—	250 and less			—
Pandalid shrimps boiled or steamed	1	—	160 and less			—
	2		161 to 250
Edible crab (Cancer pagurus)	1	16 cm and overf	—			—
	2	13 to 16 cmf

Textual Amendments

F5 Words in Annex 2 table heading substituted (31.12.2020) by The Common Fisheries Policy (Amendment etc.) (EU Exit) Regulations 2019 (S.I. 2019/739), regs. 1, 20(10); 2020 c. 1, Sch. 5 para. 1(1)

F6 Substituted by Act concerning the conditions of accession of the Czech Republic, the Republic of Estonia, the Republic of Cyprus, the Republic of Latvia, the Republic of Lithuania, the Republic of Hungary, the Republic of Malta, the Republic of Poland, the Republic of Slovenia and the Slovak Republic and the adjustments to the Treaties on which the European Union is founded.

a 20Laid down in Council Regulation (EC) No 850/98 of 30 March 1998 for the conservation of fishery resources through technical measures for the protection of juveniles of marine organisms (OJ L 125, 27.4.1998, p.1). Regulation as last amended by Regulation (EC) No 1298/2000 (OJ L 148, 22.6.2000, p. 1).
b Laid down in Regulation (EC) No 1626/94.
c Shell width, measured at the widest point.]
[F7 Scale of weights				Minimum sizes to be observed in the conditions laid down in the Regulations referred to in Article 7
Species	Size	Kg/fish or shell size	Number of fish/kg	Region	Geographical area	Minimum size
Common scallop (Pecten maximus)	one size	10 cm and over  c			Regions 1 to 5 except Skagerrak/Kattegat and except ICES VIIa north of 52 o  30' N and VIId	100 mm  a
					ICES VIIa north of 52 o  30' N and VIId	110 mm  a
Common whelk (Buccinum undatum)	one size	4,5 cm and over  c			Regions 1 to 5 except Skagerrak/Kattegat	45 mm  a
Striped or red mullet (Mullus surmuletus, Mullus barbatus)	1	500 g and over
	2	200 g 500 g exclusive
	3 a	40 g to 200 g exclusive
Mediterranean	3 b	18 g to 200 g exclusive			Mediterranean	11 cm  b
Black sea bream (Spondyliosoma cantharus)	1	800 g and over
	2	500 g to 800 g exclusive
	3	300 g to 500 g exclusive
	4	180 g to 300 g exclusive

Textual Amendments

F7 Inserted by Council Regulation (EC) No 2578/2000 of 17 November 2000 amending Regulation (EC) No 2406/96 laying down common marketing standards for certain fishery products.

[F1 Scale of weights				Minimum sizes to be observed in the conditions laid down in the Regulations referred to in Article 7
Species	Size	Kg/fish	No of fish/kg	Region	Geographical area	Minimum size
Sprat ( Sprattus sprattus )	1	0,004 and over	250 or less ]