Food Technology is Crucial to the Fishing Industry’s ROI
Providing the vast quantities of fish consumed daily is a costly business. Even a small boat might have cost the owner’s life’s savings, while a mid-sized modern trawler could set one back more than a million in most hard currencies. The world’s largest fishing boat is the Atlantic Dawn. The 144 metre-long vessel can hold 7000 metric tons of frozen fish. It was built in Dublin and cost fifty million pounds sterling. Owners of fishing boats, large or small, rely heavily on food technology to ensure the quality of their catch and an adequate return on their investment (ROI).
In addition to the initial purchase price, the owner must meet the fuel costs and ensure the boat is maintained regularly and complies with the industry’s safety standards. Crew members must also be paid, each receiving an agreed-upon portion of the price for which the catch is eventually sold. Given that modern fishing vessels often spend weeks at sea, practical measures to preserve the quality of fish whilst aboard and subsequently is only possible thanks to the additives developed for use in modern food technology.
As is the case with meat, fruits, and vegetables, seafood can also be a source of bacterial or parasitic infections if not suitably treated. In the past, harsh chemicals such as formaldehyde, widely used to preserve post-mortem tissues, were also employed as a disinfectant to eradicate the microorganisms present on the skin of a fish. This practice has been banned in many countries due to the potential ill-effects of the harsh chemical. Various international authorities have compiled standards with which the manufacturers of all chemical additives employed in food preservation technology must comply to safeguard the consumer.
Nature has provided us with abundant substances that have disinfectant, preservative, and other valuable properties. Many can be obtained from edible plants and will pose no danger when consumed by humans. For example, the lemon juice we often use as a condiment with fish dishes contains citric acid. A mixture of this weak acid with its equally innocuous salt will remove the superficial bacteria from all fish species and slow some of the natural post-mortem oxidative activities that cause spoilage. Safer additives allow fisheries to leverage food technology to ensure every fish caught is saleable and contributes to a healthy ROI.
Discolouration and fading are among the most worrying post-mortem effects occurring in selected marine species. Although these changes have no discernible impact on their taste or safety, they can render an entire catch unsaleable, costing a trawler crew thousands of Rands. For example, crustaceans such as prawns undergo an oxidative process known as melanosis soon after death. The prawn’s enzymes oxidise an amino acid to form spots of black pigment. Most consumers will automatically associate this blackening with decay and refuse to buy. Fortunately, food technology also has a solution for melanosis involving chemicals from natural sources.
In practice, ensuring fish is saleable and returning a profit more often depends on the public’s perception of quality than its actual taste and texture. Tequisa has been a leading developer of safe and effective additives for over 30 years. Its products are helping fisheries worldwide to continue thriving by leveraging the principles of advanced food technology.
