Total Utilization of Pollock and Other Fishery Wastes CALS Impact Statement

Alaskan pollock and channel catfish are two of the most widely caught or farmed fish in the US, but a large amount of by-product is minimally used and would benefit from efforts to upgrade its value. One such opportunity is the use of fish gelatin.

Currently, Alaska is the largest processor of fish in the US. Because of its isolated location and limitations due to lack of flat land and distance transport, most waste at best goes to fishmeal and often the discharge from the plants is fairly high. The question is to determine alternative methods for handling fish waste that give a greater return, provide addition food and feedstuffs, and which can be carried out in plants where fishmeal is not a viable alternative. Thus, a re-look at waste management in the fish plants can potential lead to more valuable returns in the fishery. This same concept is being applied to farmed catfish waste.

A collaborative program between UniSea in Dutch Harbor, Alaska, the Center for Applied Regional Studies in Cambridge, MA and Food Science Department at Cornell took a comprehensive look at the potential for using the waste stream from pollock processing. Among the projects begun are extraction of fish gelatin from the skin, extraction of fish gelatin from the bones, enzymatic cleaning of the bones (with adhering meat) for use as a hydrolysate, drying of the various fish protein fractions, extraction of oil from the liver and the viscera, hydrolysis of the intestinal tract and the heads, and using fish scales to flocculate the high BOD (Biological Oxygen Demand) protein-rich waste water coming from the fish meal plant and going into the ocean. By using fish scales, that can be obtained from the plant and which would eventually have gone into fish meal, one can obtain a fish meal with higher protein content, while reducing the discharge. Further technology development and economic analysis remain. A new project with Auburn, Alabama A&M and Tuskegee has been put together for catfish gelatin.

The pork industry often claims that it uses everything but the "oink"; since fish are quiet we can do better. The total utilization of fish waste would encourage a more sustainable use of this environmentally important food stuff.

Currently being funded by Alabama State Funds and an NRI application has been submitted through Alabama.

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