Fish meal

Fish by-products such as fish fins, fish heads and fish scales have been used historically to feed poultry, pigs, and other farmed fish. A primitive form of fishmeal is mentioned in The Travels of Marco Polo at the beginning of the 14th century: "they accustom their cattle, cows, sheep, camels, and horses to feed upon dried fish, which being regularly served to them, they eat without any sign of dislike." The use of herring as an industrial raw material started as early as about 800 AD in Norway; a very primitive process of pressing the oil out of herring by means of wooden boards and stones was employed. ==Use==

Prior to 1910, fish meal was primarily used as fertilizer, at least in the UK. The cost of 65% protein fishmeal has varied between around $385 to $554 per ton since 2000, which is about two to three times the price of soybean meal. ==Fish used==

Fish meal can be made from almost any type of seafood, but is generally manufactured from wild-caught, small marine fish that contain a high percentage of bones and oil. Other sources of fishmeal are from bycatch and byproducts of trimmings made during processing (fish waste or offal) of various seafood products destined for direct human consumption. • Chile: Anchovy, Horse Mackerel • China: various species • Denmark: Pout, Sand Eel, Sprat • European Union: Pout, Capelin, Sand Eel, Mackerel • Iceland and Norway: Capelin, Herring, Blue Whiting • Japan: Sardine, Pilchard, Saury, Mackerel • Peru: Anchovy • South Africa: Pilchard • Thailand: various species • United States: Menhaden, Pollock Note: It takes four to five tons of fish to produce one ton of fish meal; about six million tons of fish are harvested each year solely to make fish meal. ==Environmental impact==

Fish meal production is a significant contributor of over-fishing, and risks pushing fisheries beyond their replacement rate. Some areas of the world, such as Western Africa, have seen a large increase in fish meal production which in turn is hurting local fisheries and driving fisheries into collapse. In 2022, the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) expressed concern about overexploitation of fish in West Africa, caused by the fish meal and fish oil industry. ==Processing==

, Shetland Islands Fish meal is made by cooking, pressing, drying, and grinding of fish or fish waste into a solid. Most of the water and some or all of the oil is removed. to remove any lumps or bone particles. ==Nutrient composition==

Any complete diet must contain some protein, but the nutritional value of the protein relates directly to its amino acid composition and digestibility. High-quality fish meal normally contains between 60% and 72% crude protein by weight. Typical diets for fish may contain from 32% to 45% total protein by weight. ==Risks==

Unmodified fish meal can spontaneously combust from heat generated by oxidation of the polyunsaturated fatty acids in the meal. In the past, factory ships have sunk because of such fires. That danger has been eliminated by adding antioxidants to the meal. Though it has been approved for use in foods in the US, and as a spray insecticide for fruits, ethoxyquin has not been thoroughly tested for its carcinogenic potential. Ethoxyquin has long been suggested to be a possible carcinogen, and a very closely related chemical, 1,2-dihydro-2,2,4-trimethylquinoline, has been shown to have carcinogenic activity in rats, and a potential for carcinogenic effect to fish meal prior to storage or transportation. Globally, most of the fish meal products are characterised by possessing a certain level of plastics pollution. A recent study showed that a wide range of plastics content was found, ranging from 0 to 526.7 n/kg in samples from 26 different fish meal products, from 11 countries on four continents and Antarctica. ==See also==