Fish Processing – Sustainability and New Opportunities : Sustainability and New Opportunities

The seafood processing industry offers a good example of the difficulties in applying sustainability principles to a complex set of relationships, involving not just the technologies which could militate against environmental damage but also the economics and human societal imperatives behind them.

This book seeks to address the challenges facing the international seafood industry via a two pronged approach: by offering the latest information on established technologies and introducing new ideas and technologies. An introductory chapter sets the tone for the book by presenting the background against which fish processing will exist in the near future. Chapter two looks at the environmental and sustainability issues relating to conventional fish processing, including processing efficiency and better use of the outputs currently considered wastes. The impact of mechanisation and computerisation on environmental sustainability is also addressed. Subsequent chapters examine the latest developments in established fish processing technologies such as canning, curing, freezing and chilling, with an emphasis on the environmental aspects of packaging and the process itself. In addition, quality and processing parameters for specific species, including new species, are described. The second part of the book gives authors the opportunity to introduce the potential technologies and applications of the future to a wider audience. These include fermented products and their acceptance by a wider audience; the utilisation of fish processing by-products as aquaculture feeds; and the use of by-products for bioactive compounds in biomedical, nutraceutical, cosmetic and other applications.