Fish Hydrolysate

The new technology that has increased fishing efficiency has also resulted in the taking of species or sizes not suitable for market, known as the by-catch. An increased catch of unsaleable whole fish has resulted from the increased by-catch of the fishing industry. These fish are often dumped overboard at sea, but are also brought into port in the holds of fishing boats. This has created an incentive to find a market for the by-catch in order to lower the cost of production.The liquid fish hydrolysate process minces the whole fish, then enzymatically digests, grinds and liqueifies the resulting product, known as gurry. Because it is a cold process, gurry putrefies more rapidly than fish emulsion and needs to be stabilized at a lower pH, requiring more acid. Researchers have tried formic acid, sulfuric acid, and others. Formic acid had phytotoxic effects on plants. Phosphoric acid is the preferred stabilizer. The hydrolysate process has substantially lower capital and production costs than fish emulsion production.

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