Commercial Application of an Innovative System to Use Aquaculture Fish Wastes to Produce Nutraceutical Grade Fish Oil and Organic Fish Soil Enrichment

Final Report

West Coast Fishculture

AIMAP 2011-P16

Executive Summary

West Coast Fishculture (WCF), located at Lois Lake BC, has a steelhead trout, Oncorhynchus mykiss production facility consisting of a hatchery, a grow-out system and a processing plant. Prior to this project, WCF had identified an innovative system for the recovery of valuable products from fish farming and processing wastes. This project is the commercialization of this innovative waste utilization system in a BC aquaculture production company.

The waste utilization system was researched and selected for commercial testing because it provided the following benefits.

• The system consistently processes 100% of wastes with the options of removing high grade oil and using the remainder for soil amendment
• The soil amendment product is produced organically and organic certification was an option providing increased value in the market place
• The system is an economically viable alternative to the current methods for disposal of aquaculture wastes such as composting

WCF has capitalized on earlier research and experimentation to build and test a waste utilization system that produces valuable products in an environmentally friendly and economically feasible manner. The production of high grade oil and value-added soil amendment has financial as well as environmental benefits. This innovative system has set a new benchmark for fish waste recycling for the aquaculture industry.

The project is a showcase for the first sustainable fish farm 100% waste utilization system and as such is an important step in the future of a sustainable industry.

DFO AIMAP provided $155,000 and WCF an additional $512,440 in cash and in-kind providing significant leverage of DFO funds.

Project Description

Introduction

WCF produces 1000 tonnes of harvested steelhead trout annually for market, which results in 120-150 tonnes of waste annually including mortalities from production as well as viscera, trimmings and heads removed during processing. 

The salmon aquaculture industry in BC produces approximately 15,206 tonnes of fish waste and 25,344 tonnes of fish offal annually which is disposed of mainly through composting with a small portion sent to an independent rendering plant in Vancouver. Disposal of wastes costs the BC industry over $2M per year for transport, disposal and other associated fees. In addition, disposal through composting is of concern due to the production of green house gases in the decomposition process.

Waste Utilization System

WCF researched and completed preliminary testing on a system of waste utilization specifically suited to the Canadian fish farming industry and criteria included the following.

• Incorporate new engineering designs, equipment components and modified equipment
• Capacity to:
  • Utilize 324.5 tonnes of fish production and processing wastes annually
  • Produce 289.7 tonnes of soil amendment annually (based on 2010 production)
  • Serve as a demonstration model for recycling of fish waste for the aquaculture industry
• Include rapid enzymatic digestion methods for fish waste and preserve the soil amendment nutrients required by the bio agriculture farmers
• Have potential for organic certification for oil and soil amendment products
• Reduce production costs by using bio-fuel grade oil as replacement for propane and gas energy sources
• Utilize 100% of the wastes from salmon production and processing providing the fish farmer with control over waste disposal methods and costs
• Produce consistent high quality soil amendment product
• Produce sufficient volumes of oil either as bio-fuel or Nutraceutical grade oil to use as an alternate energy source or to sell
• Revenue allowing for a net profit after operating expenses
• Technology appropriate for a remote farm or processing site

Waste Utilization Process

The waste utilization system includes fish waste being collected and transported to a waste station where it is mixed with waste from previous oil production. The waste is shredded, ground and pumped to an agitated/stir tank. An enzymatic process degrades the proteins and regular thermal control releases the oil which is then harvested. The remainder of the waste either becomes soil amendment or is combined with new fish waste and is re-processed. 

The system is designed to accommodate 200 tonnes of fish waste per year in bi-weekly batches of 1.26 tonnes.

WCF had spent a year proving that a consistent supply of oil can be produced from processing wastes. The bio-fuel oil produced during these preliminary tests has been used as an alternate energy source to heat the hatchery reducing the heating costs by approximately $4000/month. 

Results and Deliverables

Sustainable Achievements: Environmental, Social and Economic

This project has proved the feasibility of a commercial scale waste utilization system that will use current waste products that the aquaculture industry is paying to dispose of and produce value-added oil and soil amendment products.

The BC aquaculture industry has developed few diversified value added products or technologies involving waste by-products that are environmentally friendly and sustainable. This project provides the evidence for the industry to embrace fish waste management with potential for development of a suite of products from in-house fish waste.

Having proven the commercial application, the information will be available to the BC and Canadian fish farming industry and if adopted by the BC industry alone it could significantly reduce the current $2M spent each year by for disposal of wastes from salmon production and processing.
At the same time as reducing disposal costs, this innovative waste utilization system can potentially produce 52.8 tonnes per year of quality Nutraceutical grade fish oil with a potential value of $1,500/tonne for one relatively small company. Also the production of low grade (bio-fuel) oil provides an alternate energy source to reduce production costs. 

Another advantage of this system is that the wastes are processed near production and processing sites resulting in less transport of wastes to central composting areas reducing the potential for disease spread

In meeting the challenges and responsibilities of providing sustainable, long term solutions to issues of environmental performance, this project has provided the aquaculture industry with the information to adopt a 100% waste utilization process and stand proudly among other BC and Canadian protein producers.

Project Objectives

This project has met all objectives.

Complete construction and testing of a commercial-sized fish waste recycling system capable of the following:

• Utilize 100% of fish wastes to produce high grade oil and soil amendment - completed
  • 125 tonnes of fish waste were processed
  • 100 tonnes of soil amendment were produced
  • 2 tonnes of oil was produced that can be used for biofuel or for sale as Nutraceutical grade
  • test volumes of Nutraceutical grade oil produced to verify quality
• Verify that nutrient concentration of the oil product is sufficient to meet Nutraceutical grade standards – completed.
• Develop new revenue sources in marketing the oil and soil amendment products - completed
  • Soil amendment has been purchased by potato farmers in Saskatchewan in October 2011
  • In a very competitive market, the product has been positively received
  • In 2012, soil amendment will be marketed to BC farmers
• Reduce production costs by using bio-fuel grade oil as replacement for propane and gas energy sources by 50% - proven
• Serve as a demonstration model for recycling of fish waste for the aquaculture industry - completed

Obtain organic certification for soil amendment product – completed.

• A letter has been sent to CFIA requesting registration of soil amendment as a fertilizer product for home and garden applications
• Product labels have been developed and sent to CFIA for approval.

Provide information to the aquaculture producers to use as the basis of further development of comprehensive fish waste systems for the industry – organized

• An Open House on April 24, 2012 has been organized by Joan McKay, to provide a tour of the system and a description of its application for other aquaculture companies
• Information will be distributed through the BCSFA

Conclusion

WCF through this project has successfully demonstrated the following.

• 100% of fish waste can be utilized for oil and soil amendment thus eliminating the current cost of disposal and reducing environmental impact
•  high grade oil can be obtained from fish production and processing waste providing an alternative source of revenue for the industry
• after removing the oil the remaining fish waste can be used to produce high grade organic fish soil amendment