Pangasius fillets (ca. 200 g each) were sampled at the trimming (trimming 1 and trimming 2) and washing (in tap water and in chlorinated water) steps. The sampled fillets were aseptically taken with sterile tweezers and placed separately in sterile stomacher bags, which were then sealed and stored on ice until the microbiological analyses were done (within 5 h of sampling).