Fish products and Byproducts Technology

Unit 9 - Fish meal and fish oil

9.1. Introduction
The fishmeal and oil industry, which started in northern Europe and North America at the beginning of the 19th century, was based mainly on surplus catches of herring from seasonal coastal fisheries. This was essentially an oil production activity; the oil finding industrial uses in leather tanning and in the production of soap and glycerol and other non-food products. The residue was originally used as fertilizer, but since the turn of this century it has been dried and ground into fish meal for animal feeding. Depends on the target product and price fluctuation either the fish meal or fish oil becomes by product in the industry for each other. Small oily fish are the mainstay of the fishmeal and oil industry. Even in frozen storage these fish turn rancid rapidly unless special and expensive precautions are taken. With present knowledge they can be used best by reducing them to fish meal for animal feeding and using the oil for direct human consumption in products such as margarine. There is a good demand for high quality fish meal and oil and production can be highly remunerative if suitable raw material is available. The industry can also utilize the offal - from filleting, gutting and other fish processing operations - which often poses disposal problems. The production of fish body oil and fish meal is achieved in the same processing line at different stage.