FISH MEAL PRODUCTION IN NIGERIA

GENERAL - In the context of
overfishing and the need for
continued use of fish meal, the
economical use of fishery by-
products from tuna-fisheries
has gained importance. This is gaining more ground on the
basis that high quality trash-fish is
a major compound in the
production process of high-value

animal- and aqua-feeds, says Dr
Karsten Schroeder, Addcon Asia. According to him, even though the
ratio of fish meal inclusion in
modern feed formulations is
continuously reduced in favor of
other protein carriers, the
tantamount importance of well preserved Industrial fish as the
precursor to fish meal must not be
neglected. Tuna-fisheries is exclusively aiming
at high value cuts, most famous as
‘sashimi'; yet other parts are well
recognized and yield high prices at
the world market, among others as
canned products. About 40 per cent of the fish however is used -as
by-product from processing- for
the production of fish meal only. As it has been the custom since
generations in Asian countries,
whole round tunas are being
frozen at about -20°C for
compliance with high import
standards and regulations imposed by markets overseas, among those
most importantly Europe, Japan
and the US. However, the fact that
industrial fish intended for fishmeal
production does not require the
same postharvest standards apparently has been overlooked
for quite some time. By freezing head, tail, innards and
other body parts goes on account
of storage volume in the ice hold/
cold storage of the fishing vessel.
Additional expenditures in terms of
energy costs for freezing and the pre-cooking process (before the
fish go to the fish cannery) are
encountered needlessly. This means giving away a sizable
profit that is quite easy to attain by
using FishFormPlus, an efficient
preservative from ADDCON, leading
the way for preservation of
valuable raw materials. In the sardine-processing and
canning industries, by-products are
mostly derived as residues from
the canning process and as rejects,
being off size or too small. While
the first is processed into head- and-tail fishmeal, the latter -as the
product of whole round fish- yields
high prices on the national market
due to its high protein content. Additionally, unexpected big
catches at times yield sardine
volumes that can not be processed
by the canneries in due time,
therefore being used as raw
materials for high-protein content fishmeal production. In all cases, maintaining relative
freshness during the post -fishing-
operation process, particularly on
transit from fishing ground to the
port is dearly paid with high costs
for chilling through ice application. ADDCON say they see high
potentials for the application of
Fishform Plus as a valid and
economical very viable alternative
for guaranteeing the high quality
of fish meal as a precursor for prime animal- and aqua-fee

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