A New Process for Recovery of
By-Products from Shellfish Waste
QUINTIN P. PENISTON, President
EDWIN L. JOHNSON, Vice-President
C. NORMAN TURRILL, Vice-President
Food, Chemical, and Research Laboratories, Inc.
Seattle, Washington
MURRAY L. HAYES, Techical Director
Technological Laboratory
U. S. Bureau of Commercial Fisheries
Ketchikan, Alaska
INTRODUCTION
For purposes of the present report "Shellfish" is limited to Crustacea species
including shrimp, crabs, prawns, lobsters and crayfish harvested commercially in
many world locations. The extent of these fisheries is indicated by the 1968 production data given in Table I. These are only approximate and represent only a few
of the 50 or more producing countries. They are intended to indicate the size and
world-wide scope of the shellfish industry.
All of the concerned species and their fisheries have a number of common
characteristics and problems. The edible portion of the shellfish is normally 25-35
per cent of the live weight, the rest being waste. While the edible portions and in
some instances partially processed products, e.g. "heads off" shrimp, lobster tails,
King crab leg-in-shell sections, etc., command good prices with firm demand in world
markets, recovery of the wastes has been uneconomic or at best marginal for only a
small portion of the tonnage available. As a result, wastes are often dumped into
waterways, adjacent to processing plants and, in localities where a concentration of
processing activity occurs, serious pollution problems prevail.
One example of a major shellfish waste pollution situation is found at Kodiak,
Alaska. Here about 60 per cent of the shellfish industry of Alaska is concentrated with
annual catch figures (live weight) somewhat as follows:
King crab  40 -   60 mil lb
Other crab species    20 -   30 mil lb
Shrimp     20 -   30 mil lb
Total catch  80 - 120 mil lb
Waste  50 -   70 mil lb
No attempt is made to recover wastes which are dumped into the harbor
adjacent to the 25 or more processing plants. Pollution is excessive, a nuisance to the
community, and a hazard to the industry itself through growth of bacteria in harbor
waters and live tanks.
While production of shellfish meals from some of the waste is practiced in
other fishery centers, this is not practical at Kodiak due to the lack of local markets
for feed materials and high freight costs to potential consuming areas.   In general,
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