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Site Visit Report

Alaska Seafood Processing Industry Petition Response

Lindsay Guzzo 

Environmental Engineer

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency

Region 10 Permits Division

guzzo.lindsay@epa.gov

206-553-0268

 Betsy Bicknell 

 Senior Environmental Engineer 

 Eastern Research Group, Inc. (ERG)

 betsy.bicknell@erg.com

 703-633-1612

Plant Name Kodiak Fishmeal Company

Plant Address Kodiak, Alaska

NPDES Permit # AKG528234

Date of Visit Wednesday, August 18, 2010

People Contacted Gary Anthony, Plant Manager

Seafood processed Fin fish heads, viscera, trimmings, and other processing 

waste. Some crab waste.

Products White fish meal, salmon fish meal, salmon oil, and bond 

meal

Range of annual production volume 900 MT maximum capacity; typically 100 to 350 MT/day.

Months of operation Year round

Discharge type Process wastewater

Website http://www.kodiakfishmealcompany.com

Information presented in this report was obtained from discussions with Mr. Gary

Anthony, Plant Manager and reflects his opinions. The Kodiak Fishmeal Company

website was also consulted for some production information and photographs. Mr. 

Anthony provided a diagram of the process operations (attached to this report) after the 

site visit. 

Background. Kodiak Fishmeal Company (shown in Figures 1 and 2) is located on 

Gibson Cover Road about 11⁄2 miles southwest of the 7-8 seafood processors for which it 

processes waste. Its location outside of the main harbor and town center has reduced 

complaints about odor from the plant compared to a predecessor plant located closer to 

town.

According to their website, “Kodiak Fishmeal Company opened business with a new fish 

by-products processing facility in January of 1995. Its purpose is to produce top-grade 

fishmeals for use in the aquaculture and livestock feed markets as well as the agriculture 

business. The facility consists of 23,216 square feet and is capable of processing over 

1,000 metric tons of fish per day.” (source: http://www.kodiakfishmealcompany.com/about.html)

Mr. Anthony noted that the maximum capacity is 900 MT/day. For 10 to 12 days during 

pollock season they run 800 to 900 MT/day. The 1,000 MT rating posted on the website 

described the plant when it was new; it is not the current operating maximum. They

typically run 100 to 350 MT/day. Kodiak Fishmeal has 18 full time employees, including 

3 office staff, 10 day shift operators, and 5 night shift operators. 
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Kodiak Fishmeal operates all year round. They make fishmeal from January through

October. They make some intermittent batches during in November and December and 

use the down time for plant maintenance. Table 1 lists the fish processed, by date. 

Table 1: Kodiak Fishmeal Production 

Dates Fish

January 1 - January 20 cod

January 20 - February 14 pollock

February 15 - March 6 cod

March 15 - March 28 pollock

March 30 - June 1* Sole and flounder

June 9 - July 4 * Salmon (sockeye)

July 5 - July 31 Sole and flounder

August 1 - August 20 Salmon (pink)

August 20 - September 5 Pollock

October 1 - October 14 Pollock

November 1 - December 31* cod

*Intermittent or limited production

Source: http://www.kodiakfishmealcompany.com/production.html

They process a mixed waste stream, taking whatever wastes the Kodiak seafood 

processors generate; however, because fish harvests differ by season, the meal produced 

can be sold as “White Fish Meal” or “Salmon Meal.” Waste processed includes a small 

amount of crab, including some Tanner Crab in the winter. 

The Kodiak Fishmeal Company is owned by five Kodiak seafood processing plants:

1. Trident Seafoods;

2. Alaska Fresh Seafoods;

3. Western Alaska Seafoods;

4. Ocean Beauty; and 

5. North Pacific Seafoods. 

[Confidential Business Information (CBI) has been removed from this report.]

In addition to the five co-owners, Kodiak Fishmeal takes waste from the two other 

seafood processors in Kodiak. [CBI has been removed from this report.]

Western Alaska Seafoods operates its own truck, which is totally enclosed. The other 

processors contract with a private trucking company to transport wastes to the Kodiak 

Fishmeal, [CBI has been removed from this report.]

In January 2008, about 30 bald eagles became entangled in fish waste as it was being 

loaded into a truck destined for the fish meal plant. Since that time, the processors have 
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been extra diligent about covering the trucks and curtaining the truck loading stations at 

each plant. Eagles are more likely to go after the waste in the winter. In summer there are 

plenty of salmon in the streams and the eagles do not need to scavenge at the seafood 

processing plants. 

The seafood processors typically manage their crab shell waste separately from the 

finfish waste. The fishmeal plant would prefer that the processors not segregate and grind 

the crab shells. This is because the crab shells can “bridge” in the storage silos, requiring 

extra labor to empty them. 

The plant produces white fish meal, salmon meal, salmon oil, and some bone meal. [CBI

has been removed from this report.] White fish oil is burned in the fishmeal plant boilers. 

There were at least two predecessors to the current meal plant: Biodry, which was 

privately owned, and Kodiak Reduction, a partnership. The Biodry plant was up on the 

hill closer to Gibson Cove Road. It had to shut down when the wind blew toward town 

because the community objected to the odor. The new plant is located below the road 

elevation, not visible from the road. It has generated fewer odor complaints. 

To control odor from the current plant, all exhaust is vented through a condenser and then 

Venturi scrubber that uses seawater as a scrubbing medium (Figure 3). The scrubbed 

exhaust gasses are used as make-up air for the boiler. The seawater line into the scrubber 

is equipped with a strainer to remove kelp and other large materials. After use in the 

scrubber, the seawater is discharged via the permitted outfall. Mr. Anthony noted that 

processing salmon season waste generates the most smell. 

Plant operators collect product samples from each pallet and van load. The samples are 

analyzed for protein, ash, fat, and moisture content. Bags of excess sample are retained in 

the event that customers have questions. 

Bone, which is high in ash (mainly calcium and phosphorus) and low in protein, is sifted 

out of the meal to obtain a product with relatively higher protein concentration. High ash 

(bone) fish meal is sold for use as fertilizer. [CBI has been removed from this report.]

If the fishmeal plant goes down because of mechanical failure or other upset, they are 

responsible for disposing of the waste from the Kodiak seafood processing plants. They

can store 360 MT of waste. Waste in excess of that amount must be disposed of off shore. 

Kodiak Fishmeal Company contracts with a bargeman who is “on call,” [CBI has been 

removed from this report.] Mr. Anthony reports they used the barge once in the last four 

years. When the fishmeal plant can’t take the waste, the processing plants transfer it to 

the dock at Western Alaska Seafoods where it is loaded into the barge. 

Maintenance and Cleaning. To minimize possible downtime, the fishmeal plant 

maintains a large inventory of extra parts. It also has its own machine shop (lathes and 

milling machines) to repair and fabricate parts. 
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The plant requires continual maintenance. Saltwater corrodes mild steel so they are 

converting augers to stainless steel. The plant is 15 years old and in that time the mild 

steel augers rusted through. 

Most of the plant equipment was manufactured by Atlas Stord, but they have some Alfa 

Laval separators. The plant equipment is cleaned-in-place with caustic between runs. The 

oil centrifuge is the most difficult to clean piece of equipment. The Alfa Laval separator

is easy to disassemble for cleaning. 

Energy Use. The Kodiak Fishmeal Company plant burns a blend of 99% fish oil and 1% 

diesel oil. [CBI has been removed from this report.]The fish oil is produced from 

pollock. There is little oil in cod waste and salmon oil is sold. They have four 18,000 

gallon tanks to store up to 70,000 gallons of fish oil and one diesel oil tank. The fish oil 

can gel-up in winter, so they must use diesel oil for 3-4 weeks in the winter when the 

temperatures are consistently below 20°. They also use diesel oil during salmon season. 

In July, Kodiak Fishmeal Company spent $24,600 for electricity and used 150,500 kWhr 

(16.3 cents per kWhr). Kodiak’s electricity is supplied by Kodiak Electricity Association, 

a rural electric cooperative. KEA generates electricity by a combination of hydroelectric, 

diesel, and wind turbines. The three 1.5 MW wind turbines are new and generated about 

7% of Kodiak’s electricity in 2010.

Mr. Anthony estimated that per MT of raw product they used 37kW of electricity and 

roughly 10 gallons of diesel or fish oil to fuel the steam boilers.

Recovery Processes. Trucks arriving at Kodiak Fishmeal dump their loads into a hopper 

at one end of the plant (Figure 3). The driver logs the amount and species of fish waste 

delivered. A bucket elevator lifts the fish waste to a screw conveyor which conveys it into 

two 180 MT insulated silos (Figure 4). [CBI has been removed from this report.]

From the storage silos, the fish waste is transferred into the plant via conveyors. Figures 

6 and 7 show the interior of the plant. The waste is cooked at 95 to 100°C or above for 

20 minutes. The cooking temperature is controlled by monitoring the liquid temperature 

at the cooker exit. The cooked waste is dewatered with a strainer followed by double 

screw presses. Steam is vented to the Venturi scrubber. The press cake is transferred to a 

drier. Waste heat from the drier is used in the 4th effect of the stickwater evaporators.

The liquids pressed from the cooked waste flow into a heated tank then to a decanter to

remove additional solids. Next, the liquid is processed in three centrifuges to separate the 

oil and aqueous phases. A fourth centrifuge is used during salmon season for salmon oil 

polishing. Oil is pumped to a holding tank. Salmon oil is dispensed into 55 gallon drums 

[CBI has been removed from this report.]. Mr. Anthony said he hopes to be able to 

change to SpaceKraft totes. Pollock oil is stored in four 18,000 gallon tanks outside of the 

building. 
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[CBI has been removed from this report.]. The pollock oil was recently tested and found 

to have higher Btu (104%) than diesel oil. 

The aqueous phase (stickwater) is about 6% solids but is evaporated to a 30 to 35% solids 

concentration to mix with the press cake. Stickwater is gummy, so they add enzymes to 

reduce evaporator gum-up. Hot stickwater from the centrifuges is transferred to a holding 

tank, cooled to less than 60°C, and dosed with a protease enzyme. Although it is possible 

to run the plant continuously, they have to shut down for an hour every 3-4 days to degum the stickwater evaporators. 

From the evaporator, the stickwater is transferred to a holding tank, cooled to 99°C, and 

then mixed with dry fish meal at a controlled rate1. If the stickwater is added too quickly

the mixture will ball-up. From the mixing process the fishmeal passes through a shaker 

hashing machine then to a drier. The drier operates at 160 to 165 psi. It is equipped with a 

steam jacket and steam is injected. Drying the meal requires about 2 hours through time. 

From the drier, the meal is transferred to an Atlas meal cooler. If the meal is stored 

without cooling it can combust spontaneously. After the cooler, the meal goes to a shaker 

equipped with screens to separate bone (ash). For salmon, the screens are 1⁄2” mesh. For 

other products, the screens have a smaller mesh to take out more ash. After final grinding 

in two hammermills (equipped with dust control) the meal is stored in six storage silos 

prior to packaging. Salmon meal is packed in 1400 lb totes. White fish meal is packed in 

25 kg bags. The meal is 9-13% moisture as it is removed from the drier and 6-8% 

moisture at the end of the process. 

Kodiak Fishmeal recently switched to an automated bag filling process. In this process, 

filled bags are separated by a slip sheet of cardboard, stacked, and wrapped in plastic. 

This wrapped stack approach eliminates the use of wooden shipping pallets which cost $6 

each. The wrapped stacks are transferred into a shipping van with a wide paddle fork lift. 

Production[CBI has been removed from this report.] is shipped by barge. 

Process controls. The plant is controlled using PLC controls. With the exception of new 

memory boards for new equipment, the original control system from when the plant was 

built in 1995 is still in use. 

Changes since construction. Kodiak Fishmeal added additional storage, the 

hammermill, and an additional oil centrifuge. They are planning to replace the mild steel 

augers that have corroded with stainless steel augers. 

 

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[CBI has been removed from this report.]NPDES Permit AKG-52-8234 allows Kodiak Fishmeal 

to discharge stickwater as long as they minimize its generation and discharge. The permit requires Kodiak 

Fishmeal to monitor stickwater recycling and discharge, including the percentage of stickwater recycled per 

day on a monthly average, the total gallons of stickwater recycled monthly, and the total gallons of 

stickwater discharged monthly. Kodiak Fishmeal samples the outfall once a week and monitors for BOD5,

O&G, TSS, SS, and temperature. They monitor color and pH monthly.

[CBI has been removed from this report.]
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Figure 1 Kodiak Fishmeal Company (sourc:e http://www.kodiakfishmealcompany.com)

Figure 2 Kodiak Fishmeal Company (sourc:e http://www.kodiakfishmealcompany.com)
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Figure 3. Kodiak Fish Meal Air Pollution Control Scrubber
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Figure 4. Kodiak Fish Meal Waste Receipt

Figure 5. Kodiak Fish Meal Fish Oil Storage Tanks
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Figure 6. Kodiak Fish Meal Interior (source: 

http://www.kodiakfishmealcompany.com/product.html)

Figure 7. Kodiak Fish Meal Interior (source: 

http://www.kodiakfishmealcompany.com/product.html)
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