Shellfish Partnership
The Shellfish Partnership was formed in 2012 to help the Food Standards Agency (FSA) deliver integrated and cost-effective official food safety controls for molluscan shellfish in the UK. This is required for shellfish-harvesting areas, as described in EU Regulations. The Shellfish Partnership was restructured in 2017 to cover services delivered on behalf of FSA and Food Standards Scotland (FSS).
Co-ordinated by Cefas, the Shellfish Partnership laboratories (listed below) have an excellent track record for official control programmes delivery and specific expertise in shellfish safety. On a day-to-day basis the Partnership laboratories work to common standards to deliver the following services for the specified locations.
Centre for Environment, Fisheries and Aquaculture Science (Cefas)
- UK-wide: Customer liaison; Partnership co-ordination and reports
- England, Wales and Scotland: biotoxins monitoring
- England and Wales only: phytoplankton monitoring; classification
- Scotland: E.coli monitoring (not for Shetland and Orkney)
Fera Science Ltd
- Scotland: chemical contaminants monitoring
Hallmark Scotland (HMMH)
- Scotland: sample collection
Scottish Association for Marine Science (SAMS)
- Scotland: phytoplankton monitoring; pRMP assessments
- Shetland and Orkney: E.coli monitoring
To view the latest results from the shellfish monitoring programmes, and for further information, please consult the FSA and FSS websites.
Harmonised sampling protocols and forms
The following list of protocols and forms are used across the Shellfish Partnership, under the official control monitoring programmes.
Collection protocols
Shellfish
- From classified areas (England and Wales, toxin and chemical monitoring only) (PDF, 842 KB)
- From classified areas (Scotland only) (PDF, 590KB)
- For wild pectinidae for onshore verification (Scotland only) (DOC, 40 KB)
- FOR INDUSTRY (Scotland only) - Shellfish and water sampling protocol (PDF, 109 KB)
Water
- From classified areas (England and Wales) (PDF, 168 KB)
- From classified areas (Scotland) (PDF, 3.30 MB)
Sample submission forms
Shellfish
- Classified area sample for biotoxin monitoring (England and Wales only) (DOC, 72 KB)
- Classified area sample for biotoxin, E. coli or chemical monitoring (Scotland only) (DOC, 106KB)
- Wild pectinidae onshore verification sample, for biotoxin monitoring (Scotland) (XLS, 41 KB)
- HMMH Industry collected sample submission form (Industry - Scotland only)
Sample submission forms for shellfish collected in England and Wales for classification purposes are available from the official control laboratories undertaking E.coli analysis in England and Wales.
Water
- From classified areas (England and Wales) (DOC, 51 KB)
- From classified areas (Scotland) - label (PDF, 321 KB)
FSS Annual Report
- 2018 Annual report on the results of the Shellfish Official Control Monitoring Programmes for Scotland
- 2019 Annual report on the results of the Shellfish Official Control Monitoring Programmes for Scotland
- 2020 Annual summary report on the results of the Shellfish Official Control Monitoring Programmes for Scotland
- 2021 Annual summary report on the results of the Shellfish Official Control Monitoring Programmes for Scotland
- 2022 Annual summary report on the results of the Shellfish Official Control Monitoring Programmes for Scotland
