By-Product Solutions

A word from the editor…

One of the most eye-opening aspects of the 100% fish/zero-waste movement is the inroads it’s making into the medical care world. As illustrated in this latest edition of the World Fishing & Aquaculture Special Report series ‘By-product solutions – eliminating waste and maximising value’, fish skins (mainly wild-caught cod and farmed tilapia) are transforming wound-healing around the world.

A newcomer to the secondary-yield landscape is fish blood, which amongst other things has been found to be very useful in the treatment of anaemia in humans. At this moment in time, fish blood is probably the most wasted component of a harvested fish, yet its potential is huge. Consequently, there’s a growing number of enterprises now collecting blood from slaughter processes, particularly from the farmed salmon sector, with Norway alone having access to around 30,000 tonnes of the resource.

But while these insights showcase more of the untapped opportunities and fiscal values that exist in the fishery and aquaculture by-products that are still widely discarded or downcycled, they also underline how much further endeavour is needed up and down the seafood value chain to identify where unnecessary waste is being generated and where the 100% fish mentality can be applied.

- Jason Holland, Editor, World Fishing & Aquaculture
jholland@worldfishing.net