Microbial quality and diversity of Caesio cunning and Scolopsis taenioptera harvested by using trap and trawl fishing techniques

The degradation of fish quality and quantity along the supply chain contributes to the postharvest losses. Lack of hygienic practices, non-preprocessing fish and rough handling are the main factors of lowering the catch qualities. This study aims to investigate the microbiology quality and their diversity on coral fishes harvested from two different fishing techniques; trap and trawl. Two fish species; Caesio cunning and Scolopsis taenioptera were subjected to total bacteria, total coliform, Enterobacteriaceae sp., Pseudomonas sp., and yeast and mould analysis. The bacteria identification were further studied using Biomerieux Vitex identification system. The total bacteria count of Caesio cunning and Scolopsis taenioptera harvested by using trap showed a significant (p<0.05) lower amount compared similar species harvested using trawl technique. Furthermore, the pathogenic bacteria and yeast and moulds of Caesio cunning harvested from trap were significantly (p<0.05) lower compared to similar species harvested from trawl techniques. However, there is no significant difference of total coliform, Enterobacteriaceae, Pseudomonas sp. and yeast and moulds found in Scolopsis taenioptera caught from either trap or trawl. The microflora found in both fish species was dominated by Aeromonas sp. Aeromonas sp. is a Gram-negative bacteria, facultatively anaerobic, rod-shaped.