140 DESCRIPTION OF IMPORTANT FISHERIES AND THEIR PRODUCTS 



single operation as they are filled into the can. The cans then go to a 

 seahng machine. Before sealing, oils or sauces are added. The oils used 

 are soybean oil, peanut oil, or olive oil, and the sauces are usually either 

 tomato or mustard sauce. After sealing, the cans are retorted to sterilize 

 the content of the can and then cooled, labeled, and packed in cases. 



Two million cases of Maine sardine is considered a normal pack, 

 although the 1961-62 pack was below normal, amounting to only 675,000 

 cases. 



Fish Meal, Fish Oil, and Condensed Fish Solubles from Sardine and 

 Mackerel Cannery Waste 



When edible fish like sardine or mackerel are processed for canning, 

 a considerable part of the whole fish goes into trimmings and offal. In 

 preparing the fish for canning, each individual fish must be butchered 

 and parts of the anatomy, such as heads, tails, viscera, fins, etc., removed 

 to comply with government regulations and to satisfy the aesthetic stand- 

 ards current in this part of the world. Cutting fish of variable sizes to 

 fit into standard size cans also produces a considerable amount of trim- 

 mings, which further reduces the amount of the fish which actually goes 

 into the can. The offal and trimmings from these operations constitute 

 the raw material for the production of fish meal, fish oil, and condensed 

 fish solubles by the fish canners. These by-products are of great economic 

 significance to the canners and have, at times, sustained the industry 

 during periods when profits from cannery operations were marginal. 



The enormous expansion of the fish meal industry which has taken 

 place in recent years, using menhaden of the East and Gulf Coasts of 

 the United States, the North Atlantic or Pacific herring, or the small 

 clupeoid fish so abundant along the west coast of South America, has 

 created an international glut in fish meal and oil. This has decreased the 

 price of these commodities to such an extent that the profits derived from 

 the production of fish meal and oil by sardine and mackerel canners have 

 become marginal. Efforts are, therefore, being made to find other out- 

 lets for the offal and trimmings of the fish canning industry. These efi"orts 

 have up to now been only partially successful, but as the decreased market 

 for fish meal and oil and solubles in all probability will persist for several 

 years, increased activity to find new outlets for fish meal and oil or to 

 create new products from the offal and trimmings will undoubtedly 

 continue. 



Manufacture of Meal and Oil. The methods in use for the production 

 and manufacture of fish meal, fish oil, and condensed fish solubles from 

 the offal and trimmings of the sardine and mackerel canneries are, in the 

 main, the same as those used for the reduction of the whole fish. 



