Peter DeSouza

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My name is Peter DeSouza. I work here with the Canadian Food Inspection Agency, specifically with the fish inspection program. I have been with the Agency now about 8 years.

Some people like to call us fish cops jokingly. Fish is coming in daily and there are times that we have to inspect that product. It's very important that that relationship is strong amongst industry because one of the things we need to effectively have is communication. We make our decisions on how we inspect based on risk. Different types of species of fish have different risks associated with them.

Once a product has been brought into the country, they're not allowed to move, distribute, or sell that product until they've received written permission from CFIA.

We identify ourselves to who we are, why we are here. They understand already through written notification that we are going to be coming to sample the product. And we sample products so that we can bring them back here, to the lab, to do our proper testing to make sure that it is safe for human consumption.

I am, I guess you could call, a sensory mentor or expert for the region, and I also take part in a lot of national training, and I take that training and bring it back here and pass it on to those individuals.

We are always continually trying to improve the program. Yes, there are textbooks, there are manuals, there's the Internet to read our policies and procedures, but you can't put smells in a book. That is something you need to do first-hand, you need to smell fish. You need to be able to make sound decisions.

I know when I test product that, say for example fails, it's already on hold with the fish program; they're not allowed to release, sell or move. And when I know that I have protected a Canadian citizen, an adult or a child from that potential of getting sick, that's a great feeling.

That's a very great feeling.