State of Alaska > Commerce > OED > Office of Fisheries Development > By

- Product



## By

- Product Development By-products from fish waste is an important development t opic for the Alaska seafood industry. Alaska is one of the world's greatest producers of wild capture seafood. While there are a fair number of our fisheries that make use of fish waste through fishmeal plants or other processes, there are several notable areas and fisheries that are without any significant by-product recovery.

Salmon is one fishery that lacks alternative uses for most of its fish waste. This is a particular problem in certain areas of Alaska where fish waste accumulates to levels high enough enforcement actions by regulatory agencies. In the chum salmon fishery, where the main value is the roe, use of the carcasses, as require d by the State's wanton waste law, creates difficulties for fishermen and processors. The roe is at its highest value when the fish are ready to spawn, but the quality of th e flesh is much reduced at that point. Finding alternative uses for chum flesh, short of returning it back into the natural food chain, is an important challenge. Some progress has been made to date, but much remains to be done.

Current Alaska Production

Nonetheless, there are a number of fishmeal and fish oil operations in Alaska. In 2001, 62 facilities reported fishmeal production. The wholesale value of these operations was over $28 million. A significant portion of the fish meal production comes from groundfish operators, either at facilities in Dutch Harbor and Kodiak, or from at sea in factory trawlers. Compared to global production of fishmeal in 1999, Alaska's production of 41,700 metric tons (92 million pounds) was less than 1% of the entire world's supply. Alaska production of fish oil ranks similarly to relative to global fish oil production.

Limitations

Our fisheries are geared for human consumption. Processing thus removes much of the nutrient value, leaving relatively low-nutrient waste. Therefore, achieving similar nutri ent levels to those found in meal from whole fish reduction fisheries (sardines, anchovies, me nhaden, herring, etc.) is difficult in Alaska waste-based fishmeal production.

Global reduction fisheries (those fisheries devoted to f ishmeal and fish oil) produced 30.4 million metric tons in 1999, while the entire Al aska fishery produced less than 7% of that amount. The potential volume of material availab le for meal and other by-product production (after removing portions for human consumptio n and processing losses) is therefore quite limited when compared to the global reduction fishery.

Opportunities Alaska Product Preference Alaska Regional Development Organizations Film Program Tourism Development Minerals Development Fisheries Development Kid's Page
Alaska Public Lands Information Small Business Regulations Program

Planning a Trip to Alaska Small Business Development
Forest Products Alaska State Forestry AlaskaHost Training
Customs Guide to Alaska Native Arts Economic Development
List of Alaska CVBs and Chambers of Commerce Division of Community and Regional Development



## Page 1 of 3 Alaska Office of Economic Development

6/30/2010 http://www.dced.state.ak.us/oed/seafood/by_products.htmOver the last ten years, production from the world's wil d capture fisheries has leveled off,

with 18 - 25% of all wild capture fisheries dedicated t o reduction products. Meanwhile, aquaculture production has been significantly increasing. A ssuming that most reduction fisheries are managed for sustainability, any increase in b y-products availability must come from fish waste from seafood processed for human consu mption.

Alaska may have some opportunities in this regard. Althoug h the potential volume of fish waste byproducts from Alaska is small, it may nonetheless be possible for communities and industry to handle waste more efficiently, develop com mercially viable products, and reduce environmental compliance costs.

Determining the economic potential of fish waste product s, and the production technologies required is highly dependent on the volume and mix of species available. There are often many technologies to create essentially th e same product. Choosing the appropriate process is essential to achieve profitability.

Uses

Fish Meals : Fishmeal moves almost exclusively into livestock and aquacult ure feeds. A significant, but shrinking portion of fishmeal goes into poultry production. With the increase in aquaculture production, it is expected that more fishmeal will go towards this growing segment.

Fish Oils - Fish oil use changed dramatically in recent years. In 1 990, most fish oil went for human consumption. However, by 2000, a majority of fish oil production went towards aquaculture operations due to the growth in production of salmon that benefits from fish oil additives in feed. Trends suggest only a small fraction of the oil produced in the near future will go towards human consumption.

Bone meal - Bone meal is used for livestock feed. The use of bone m eal from ruminants (sheep, cows, goats) in Europe was the cause of recent "mad cow" food scares. The European prohibition on using such bone meal in livesto ck feeds may be an opportunity for development of wild capture seafood bone meal.

Fuel - Fish waste may be converted to fish fuel that is compar able to diesel. Dutch Harbor reportedly produces 3.5 million gallons of fish oil. UniSea, a major processor in Dutch Harbor, worked with the Alaska Energy Authority on a pilot project to test the efficiency of using fish oil with diesel fuel for electrica l generation. The results so far have been positive and await the results of long-term testing on the engines. A number of factory trawlers have been adding a fraction of fish oil to their fuel for years.

Bait - Longline and pot fisheries consume large volumes of b ait. In Alaska we import thousands of tons of bait every year. Yet little effort has so far been expended to develop a bait market utilizing salmon heads, or carcasses from roe stripped fish that are unsuitable for food use.

Plant Fertilizers - There are a few manufacturers of fertilizer made f rom Alaska fish waste. This is a growing business segment, as fish based fert ilizers such as hydrolysate often offer growers numerous advantages over other ferti lizer types. Opportunities also exist to partner fish wastes with the availability of othe r natural resource waste such as timber

Human food - Human consumption of byproducts is an important consider ation. Fish oil, fishmeal, and certain organs, all have uses in fulfilling dietary needs in markets throughout the world.

Pet food - Several pet food manufacturers are already using salmo n by-products. With growing populations and great levels of pet ownership, the pet food market is certainly a growth segment. For more information on its market po tential, read Trends in the U.S. Pet Food Industry: The Potential for Alaska Seafood Pr oducts

Health products - A number of seafood products are touted for their healthful attributes. Pharmaceutical and nutraceutical products have long been used to cure human 

## Page 2 of 3 Alaska Office of Economic Development

6/30/2010 http://www.dced.state.ak.us/oed/seafood/by_products.htmailments. Cod liver is a product long sought in the ma rkets. Recent attention is turning

towards Omega 3 oils, widely found in wild salmon

Stickwater process - The Kodiak Fishery Industrial Technology Center conducted studies on filtering all proteins out of fish waste in an att empt to boil down waste to become essentially water. This would ease dumping requirements in some areas.

Staff Directory Webmaster 

## Page 3 of 3 Alaska Office of Economic Development

6/30/2010 http://www.dced.state.ak.us/oed/seafood/by_products.htm