MEMORANDUM

TO: Don Anderson, EPA/EAD

FROM: Betsy Bicknell

DATE: March 8, 2011

SUBJECT: Byproduct Yield Assumption for Alaska Seafood Processing Cost Estimate

EPA/EAD has tasked ERG to estimate the cost of alternative waste management strategies for 

seafood processing facilities in certain areas of Alaska. One of these management strategies is 

the production of fish meal and fish oil from seafood processing waste. As discussed in Alaska 

Seafood Processing Costing Scenarios and Assumptions: Revised Draft (February 14, 2011), for 

the purpose of the cost estimates ERG will assume:

• Fish meal and fish oil are produced from salmon waste generated during the summer 

salmon season;

• The fish meal and fish oil products are commodity grade, meaning that all of the salmon 

waste is used in their production (and not, for example, just the salmon heads);

• The process used is a conventional fish meal process and includes evaporation and 

recovery of the stickwater, as depicted in the ANCO-Eaglin Rendering Plant Proposal, 

February 13, 2011. 

A key factor for estimating the net cost of producing byproducts from seafood processing is the 

yield of fish meal and fish oil. Using yield (kg of byproduct/1,000 kg of waste processed), price 

information, and shipping costs ERG will estimate the income that would result from operating 

the byproduct recovery process. 

ERG consulted several sources to identify product yields. Fish oil yields are presented in Table 1

and fish meal yields are presented in Table 2. These yields are discussed, by information source,

below.

• E.C. Jordan, 1979. Reassessment of Effluent Limitations Guidelines and New Source 

Performance Standards for the Canned and Preserved Seafood Processing Point Source 

Category. P. 169 discusses the yields used in EPA’s original analysis of byproduct 

recovery. Meal yield, presumed to be 25 percent, and oil yield, presumed to be 8 percent

were obtained from manufacturers’ literature and other sources, "familiar with conversion 

of fish waste to meal and oil."

• EPA’s 2010 Questionnaire for Canned and Preserved Seafood Processing Facilities in 

Certain Locations in Alaska. Among other things, the questionnaire asked facilities with 
Memorandum: Anderson

February 23, 2011

Page 2

onsite byproducts plants to report the annual fish meal and fish oil production for the 

peak year between 2005 and 2009 (Q. B-18). It also asked for the total pounds of raw 

material used for byproduct production, broken out by waste generated onsite and waste 

received from offsite facilities (Q. B-19). Four facilities provided information about fish 

oil production from salmon waste. Production reported by one plant as gallons was 

converted to pounds by assuming 7.7 pounds/gallon1

• ANCO-Eaglin, February 13, 2011. ANCO-Eaglin, a byproducts equipment manufacturer 

and supplier, provided an estimate of oil production from a hypothetical 25 MT/day 

plant. This estimate was based on information provided by an ANCO-Eaglin client and is 

the highest value of all the values ERG collected. This suggests that ANCO-Eaglin may 

have misinterpreted the client’s estimated oil yield, or based the yield on high-oil waste, 

not total waste.

. Facilities were not asked to 

describe the waste they converted to oil. Plants that processed fish heads, which contain 

more oil than other fish wastes, would have higher yield than plants that process 

combined fish waste. Two facilities provided information about production of salmon 

meal from salmon waste.

• Nicklason, Stitzel, et al., 2010. Montlake Process for Utilization of Salmon Processing 

Waste in Alaska, from “A Sustainable Future: Fish Processing Byproducts” (Bechtel and 

Smiley, ed.). Figure 2 in this paper presents the estimated material flow for salmon 

cannery waste processing using the Montlake process. The authors estimate 4 kg oil 

would be obtained from 200 kg heads. The yield in Table 1 is calculated based on 4 kg 

oil from 300 kg total salmon waste. Meal yield is calculated from total waste; it is unclear 

if stickwater is recovered with the meal or in a separate gelatin product.

• Bimbo, 2010. Alaska Seafood Byproducts: 2008 Update on Potential Products, Markets, 

and Competing Products from “A Sustainable Future: Fish Processing Byproducts”

(Bechtel and Smiley, ed.). To estimate the value of fish oil and fish meal Alaska seafood 

processing waste, Bimbo assumes “a 5:1 conversion ration of fish waste to fish meal ... 

[and that] ... fish oil yield would be... 2% of the total waste.”

Table 1: Fish Oil Yields

Source

Yield

(kg/1,000 kg) Comments

EC Jordan, 1977 (p 169) 80

From manufacturers literature and other sources, "familiar with 

conversion of fish waste to meal and oil"

Plant 1 (Questionnaire 

Response) 33

Calculated from questionnaire reported oil production and raw material 

processed

Plant 2 (Questionnaire 

Response) 20

Calculated from questionnaire reported oil production and raw material 

processed. Production reported in gallons; assumed 7.7 lb/gal to 

calculate yield.

Plant 3 (Questionnaire 

Response) 70

Calculated from questionnaire reported oil production and raw material 

processed

Plant 4 (Questionnaire 

Response) 26

Calculated from questionnaire reported oil production and raw material 

processed

ANCO-Eaglin Proposal 114 From unspecified client

 11 Salmon oil density from www.aqua-calc.com
Memorandum: Anderson

February 23, 2011

Page 3

Nicklason, et al 2010 (p 

228) 13

Calculated from total waste, though only heads would go through oil 

recovery. Based on heads alone, yield is 20 kg/1,000 kg

Bimbo, 2010 (pp 12,13) 20 Generalized value for all Alaska species

Table 2: Fish Meal Yields

Source

Yield

(kg/1,000 kg) Comments

Plant 1 120

Calculated from questionnaire reported salmon meal production and raw 

material processed

Plant 2 180

Calculated from questionnaire reported salmon meal production and raw 

material processed

ANCO-Eaglin Proposal 200 From unspecified client

EC Jordan, 1977 (p 169) 250

From manufacturers literature and other sources, "familiar with 

conversion of fish waste to meal and oil"

Nicklason, et al 2010 (p 

228) 140

Calculated from total waste; unclear if stickwater is added to meal or 

separate gelatin fraction

Bimbo, 2010 (pp 12,13) 200 Generalized value for all Alaska species

To put these estimates in context, Smiley et al estimate that the weight of total solids (protein, 

ash, and oil) is on the order of 25% of wet byproduct. As shown in Tables 1 and 2, fish oil yields 

range from 1.3 to 11% while fish meal yields are 10% to 20% of the weight of raw waste 

processed (though meal weights include a varying and unspecified amount of moisture). 

Conclusion. ERG concludes that Bimbo’s values (fish oil 2% and fish meal 20% of raw waste 

processed) are reasonable estimates of salmon byproduct yields. These values are consistent with 

Smiley’s estimate of the weight of solids in the raw waste. Although several sources have higher 

oil yields, they may be calculated based on the weight of a high-oil waste processed instead of 

total waste (which will be the basis of ERG’s calculations). Some sources have lower meal 

yields, but it is not clear if these processes included recovery of stickwater proteins. Because the 

ANCO-Eaglin process we will used as the basis for costs estimates includes stickwater recovery, 

ERG concludes that using a somewhat higher fish meal yield is appropriate. 
Density of Fish oil, salmon

in 152 measurement units

The search criteria examples:

gold - select entries whose names contain the word gold

gold* - select entries whose names start with the string

gold

*gold - select entries whose names end with the string gold

* - select all materials, substances and food items

(average density at standard atmospheric conditions)

from 1 to 1 of 1

Fish oil, salmon

Name Density mass per

 microgram 

(μg)

milligram 

(mg)

gram (g) kilogram 

(kg)

tonne (t) ounce (oz) pound (lb) slug (sl) Unit of 

Volume

Fish oil, salmon 

(4593) 

Calories per 100 

grams or ≈3.527 

ounces: 

kilo 

calories 

(kcal)

kilo 

joule 

(kJ)

From 

Carbohydrate:

0 0

From Fat:

902 3 

773.97

From Protein:

0 0

Total:

902 3 

773.97

921.432119 0.921432 0.000921 9.214321 × 

10-7

9.214321 

× 10-10

3.3 × 10-5 2 × 10-6 6.313816 

× 10-8

cubic 

millimeter

921 

432.11912

921.432119 0.921432 0.000921 9.214321 

× 10-7

0.032503 0.002031 6.3 × 10-5 cubic 

centimeter

921 432 

119.12

921 

432.11912

921.432119 0.921432 0.000921 32.502562 2.03141 0.063138 cubic 

decimeter

921 432 

119 120

921 432 

119.12

921 

432.11912

921.432119 0.921432 32 

502.561463

2 

031.410093

63.138156 cubic 

meter

921 

432.11912

921.432119 0.921432 0.000921 9.214321 

× 10-7

0.032503 0.002031 6.3 × 10-5 milliliter

921 432 

119.12

921 

432.11912

921.432119 0.921432 0.000921 32.502562 2.03141 0.063138 liter

4 607 

160.5956

4 

607.160596

4.607161 0.004607 5 × 10-6 0.162513 0.010157 0.000316 metric 

teaspoon

13 821 

481.7868

13 

821.481787

13.821482 0.013821 1.4 × 10-

5

0.487538 0.030471 0.000947 metric 

tablespoon

230 358 

029.78

230 

358.02978

230.35803 0.230358 0.00023 8.12564 0.507853 0.015785 metric cup

15 099 

567.1077

15 

099.567108

15.099567 0.0151 1.5 × 10-

5

0.532622 0.033289 0.001035 cubic inch

Fish oil, salmon density in 152 measurement units Page 1 of 2

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weight to volume 

volume to weight

26 092 051 

969.4

26 092 

051.9694

26 

092.051969

26.092052 0.026092 920.370048 57.523128 1.787873 cubic foot

704 485 

402 990

704 485 

402.99

704 

485.40299

704.485403 0.704485 24 

849.991327

1 

553.12446

48.272584 cubic yard

4 541 

666.66565

4 

541.666666

4.541667 0.004542 5 × 10-6 0.160203 0.010013 0.000311 US 

teaspoon

13 625 

000.0246

13 

625.000025

13.625 0.013625 1.4 × 10-

5

0.480608 0.030038 0.000934 US 

tablespoon

27 250 

000.0492

27 

246.747762

27.246748 0.02725 2.7 × 10-

5

1.032004 0.0645 0.001867 US fluid 

ounce

218 000 

000.578

218 

000.000578

218.000001 0.218 0.000218 7.689724 0.480608 0.014938 US cup

436 000 

000.234

436 

000.000234

436 0.436 0.000436 15.379447 0.961215 0.029875 US pint

872 000 

000.468

872 

000.002311

872.000002 0.872 0.000872 30.758895 1.922431 0.059751 US quart

3 487 999 

998.19

3 488 

000.0074

3 

488.000007

3.488 0.003488 123.03558 7.689724 0.239004 US gallon

Fish oil, salmon density in 152 measurement units Page 2 of 2

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