## 4 Conclusions  
This is the first study to look into consumer perception for active packaging in fish using real-life products, both raw and cooked, in terms of preference, sensory freshness and attitudes. Consumers generally value the safety and convenience aspects of fish packaging, although a large proportion is still unconvinced about the utility of the packaging in freshness preservation. However, in theory, they are positive towards the addition of a pad that may boost the quality of packed fish. When raw fish or fillets were evaluated, consumers preferred MAP-PAD samples, especially at the end of high-quality shelf-life. This preference can be related to higher perceived freshness in terms of fresh odor and overall freshness perception, but also to the impact of the pad on the appearance of the sample by absorbing sample-excreted liquid. On the other hand, the presence of the pad did not affect consumers' acceptance or perceived freshness of cooked samples. Perceived freshness has been strongly related to volatiles that have been previously identified as indicators for fish freshness (octanal and decanal), whereas negatively correlated with volatiles (1-penten-3-ol, 2-penten-1-ol, hexanal, Z-4-heptenal, 1-octen-3-ol, 3-hydroxy-2-butanone, 2,3-pentanedione) that can be considered as spoilage indexes. The addition of CO2-emitting pads exhibited a positive impact on these aforementioned freshness indicators. Furthermore, we demonstrated the importance of involving consumers in market research for the better understanding of their needs and perceptions regarding improved quality of fish products. Thus, conducting further research on active packaging and other new technologies with them could lead to a successful market approach that may contribute to extended shelf-life of products and, in turn, to the elimination of food waste. **Supplementary Materials:** The following supporting information can be downloaded at: [[https://www.mdpi.com/article/10.3390/foods12030505/s1](https://www.mdpi.com/article/10.3390/foods12030505/s1)]([https://www.mdpi.com/article/10.3390/foods12030505/s1](https://www.mdpi.com/article/10.3390/foods12030505/s1)), Table S1: Questionnaire attribute scores derived from consumer test, presented as means \(\pm\) standard deviation, for whole-gutted seabream and seabass at the high quality time point and end of high-quality shelf-life; Table S2: Questionnaire attribute scores derived from consumer test, presented as means \(\pm\) standard deviation, for fillets of seabream and seabass at the high quality time point and end of high-quality shelf-life; Table S3: Questionnaire attribute scores derived from consumer test, presented as means \(\pm\) standard deviation, for cooked samples of seabream and seabass at the high quality time point and end of high-quality shelf-life; Table S4: Perceived occurrence of liquid in the sample packages expressed as proportion (%) of tested packages; Table S5: Perceived occurrence of thin and transparent mucus on the skin of whole gutted fish in the packaging expressed as proportion (%) of tested packages; Table S6: Proportion (%) of consumers who perceived cooked seabream and seabass samples as firm in texture; Table S7: Mean concentrations (ng/g) and standard deviations (SD) of the volatile compounds that differed significantly (\(p<0.05\)) or showed a tendency for difference (\(p<0.1\)) in seabream fillets. P-values were calculated by applying a mixed model ANOVA (factors: pad, shelf-life, pad \(\times\) shelf-life); Table S8: Mean concentrations (ng/g) and standard deviations (SD) of the volatile compounds that differed significantly (\(p<0.05\)) or showed a tendency for difference (\(p<0.1\)) in seabass fillets.