This volume seeks to address the sustainability challenges facing the international seafood industry. These issues centre mainly on energy usage, water usage, effluents and by-product development opportunities. The world fisheries sector offers a good example of the difficulties in applying sustainability principles to a complex set of relationships, involving not just the technologies that could militate against environmental damage but also the economics and human societal imperatives behind them. Fish is food, providing nutrition and livelihoods for millions of people across the world and, because the fish processing industry sits between the fish producer and the consumer, there is a need for influences from both sides to be considered.
The book addresses established processes first, covering the latest developments in canning, curing, freezing and surimi production. Subsequent chapters look at new areas, or those not usually included in conventional processing: fermented products, onboard processing, fish meal and oil production issues and high-value bioactive compounds. Three additional linking chapters offer an introduction to sustainability and fisheries, the use of Life Cycle Assessment and supply chain approaches to measure the environmental impact of fish processing and, finally, a case study on the transport of fish in the UK.
The aim of the book is to spark an interest not only in the technologies that can help to ensure a sustainable world fishery, but also the contexts in which they operate. The subtitle of the book, Sustainability and New Opportunities, is intended to show that the challenges of a sustainable industry are also opportunities for new product development and process innovation. It is aimed at scientists and technologists working in the global seafood industry, suppliers to the industry, regulatory bodies, and researchers and students of food science and technology.
