Fish meal and oil

Prosessing and markets

Fish meal and fish oil constituted 11% of the value of seafood exports from Iceland in 2007. Fish meal is primarily used as a protein source in animal feeds and fish oil is mainly used as an energy source in fish feeds. There is a growing international market for fish meal and oil due to the increase in aquaculture world-wide and to new markets, such as the pet food market, that are emerging. It is clear that some fish stocks are more suitable for industrial processing for fish meal and oil than for processing directly into human food. Utilization of some species for human consumption may be limited by economic considerations, such as the cost of processing compared to product value on the market. This applies especially to some pelagic species, such as capelin (Mallotus villosus) and blue whiting (Micromesistius poutassou) and to a lesser extent to herring (Clupea harengus). Management of pelagic fisheries is, nevertheless, subject to exactly the same rules as other fisheries, i.e. individual vessel quotas allocated within a total allowable catch that is based on scientific assessment . In fact, the pelagic fisheries were the first to have been controlled in this way, and often more strictly than other fisheries.

Capelin, herring and blue whiting are the most important stocks used for fish meal and oil processing and they provide over 95% of the value of meal and oil products. There are several fish meal and oil factories in Iceland, many of them very modern and highly automated. All the factories are located on the coast and refrigerated boats are increasingly used to keep fish as fresh as possible. They are supplied by purse seiners using conventional nets and pelagic trawls.

Fish meal also provides a valuable outlet to recycle trimmings from the food fish processing sector which would otherwise be dumped at considerable cost to the environment.

Markets for fish meal products are primarily in European countries, such as the UK, Denmark, Norway and Ireland but also in North America. The meal is included in feeds for land animals as well as for aquacultural feeds. Markets for fish oil are primarily in Norway and other European countries.

Production

Fish meal and oil processing is based on technology that has been developed through most of this century. Each consignment is subject to comprehensive regulatory controls to safeguard its integrity from factory to farm. Raw material quality, heat treatment and separation processes must therefore be well monitored.

Fish meal and fish oil are produced by a continuous process which involves cooking, pressing, drying and milling. Fish meal factories use raw material fully. The following summary is a step by step guide to the production process.

1. Intake - Raw fish is sampled and analysed on intake to check for freshness
2. Cooking - The raw fish is conveyed through a steam heated continuous cooker, where it is heated to 90°C-95°C. This sterilizes the fish, coagulates the proteins and disrupts the cell membranes, to facilitate the separation of the solubles and the oil from the dry matter.
3. Press - The cooked raw material is fed to a screw press where much of the liquid is squeezed out to form a presscake which is conveyed to the drier.
4. Separator - The press liquid contains, apart from water, most of the oil from the fish, and also dissolved proteins, salts and fine particles. The latter are removed in a decanter and transported to the drier to be mixed in with the presscake. The liquid from the decanter is fed to separators where the oil is removed and subsequently stored for export.
5. Evaporator - The water phase from the separators is fed to the evaporators where it is concentrated before being blended with the  presscake  during the drying stage.
6. Drier - The water in the presscake , sludge and concentrate is removed by rapid hot air drying after which the fishmeal is cooled, milled and stored for export.

 Matís