Visceral and fillet examination of fish is performed either on board or in the laboratories (IFREMER Nantes, ANSES Boulogne s/mer, Cochin hospital-Paris Descartes Univ.) in order to increase the number of processed samples.

The fish processing is standardized across laboratories. Once isolated, the parasites are distributed between partners for final molecular identification.
    ⁃    Microscopic, histological and ultrastructural examination of tissue samples for identifying Protists, Myxozoa and Microsporidia (BDEEP Pasteur Institute of Lille)
    ⁃    Molecular analyses of anisakid larvae (IFREMER Nantes, ANSES Boulogne s/mer)
    ⁃    Molecular analyses of plerocercoid larvae (Cochin hospital-Paris Descartes Univ.)
    ⁃    Molecular analyses of Cryptosporidium samples (BDEEP Pasteur Institute of Lille)
    ⁃    Testing the ability of Cryptosporidium isolates to infect mammals (BDEEP Pasteur Institute of Lille).

Continuous training sessions on fish parasites are organized at the Pasteur Institute of Lille and coached by the partners of the Fish-Parasites project.

These training sessions are intended for professionals of the fish sector: fishermen, wholesale sea-fish merchant, veterinary services, fish seller, large retailers, fish industry, etc.

 The project is structured on different working tasks.

•    The task 1 concerns the coordination of the missions between all partners. This is achieved at the Pasteur Institute of Lille (by Eduardo Dei-Cas and Cécile-Marie Aliouat, BDPEE team).

•    The task 2 is dedicated to the collection and dissection of marine fish at sea or from wholesale merchants. Freshwater fish were also sampled form the lakes of Geneva, Bourget and Annecy.

•    The task 3 targets the detection of parasites (Anisakidae, Diphyllobothridae, Cryptosporidium), the identification by using molecular techniques, the filling of the PARAFISH database and the statistical analyses of the data.

•    The task 4 aims at developing an intelligent vision system thus allowing the systematic detection of the Anisakidae larvae in the fish fillets.

•    The task 5 targets the diffusion of knowledge accumulated during the Fish-Parasites action towards the professionals of the fish sector but also towards the general public in order to better understand the risk due to fish parasites. In that aim, several actions were set up: a fish parasite identification platform opened to the professionals and located at the ANSES (Boulogne s/mer), the Fish-Parasites website and continuous training sessions dedicated to the professionals of the fishing sector.