ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) — May 7, 2014 — Alaska pollock sandwiches at fast-food restaurants can now be topped off with a supplement extracted from another part of the fish.
In a victory for scientists researching ways to use fish parts that don't fit on a bun, a seafood company has begun sales of vitamins using oil extracted from the pollock livers. American Marine Ingredients is selling 54 Degrees North Omega-3 with Vitamin D3, using a distillation method researched by University of Alaska Fairbanks associate professor Alex Oliveira.
"It's a beautiful oil. There's no reason we can't use it as a nutraceutical," Oliveira said from Kodiak. "It's got excellent nutritional value and the market for nutraceuticals and fish oils is booming."
Alaska is known for salmon, but pollock is the state's highest volume fishery. The 2013 catch was 1.23 million metric tons, according to the National Marine Fisheries Service, topping all varieties of salmon at 476,138 metric tons.
Pollock in U.S. markets is breaded and fried for sandwiches, but the lean white fish is sold overseas for use in fine restaurants. It's also the basic ingredient in surimi, the crab substitute made of chopped pollock flavored and blended with other ingredients.
The challenge has been to find uses for what's left after removing fillets, including the heads, bones, skin and guts. Richard Draves, vice president of product development for Seattle-based American Seafoods Co., the parent of American Marine Ingredients, calls them "side stream" because "waste" or "byproducts" implies they have no value.
Read the full story from the Associated Press at KTVN