to determine wh::'t possibilities seemed most promising before selecting 

 fields for laboratory work. Also included are reports on research com- 

 pleted on processing salmon waste for vitamin A oils, and results of 

 preliminary tests on feeding of salmon cannery waste to fish in fish 

 hatcheries. 



In salmon canneries in Alaska the fish is dressed in a machine known 

 as the "Iron Chink" which c its off the head, fins, and tail and removes 

 the viscera. These waste pxDrtions, a-'iounting to about one-third of the 

 weight of the fish, are in most cases discarded. In Ketchikan, the Alas- 

 kan city closest to Seattle, and where there is a heavy concentration 

 of canneries close to the city, this waste is towed by barge to a reduc- 

 tion plant just outside the city where it is rendered into fish meal and 

 oil. In practically all other Alaskan localities, the waste is dumped 

 at sea. It is estimated that well in excess of 100,000,000 pounds of 

 such waste is discarded annually. 



Utilization of this waste is hampered by a n^omber of conditions, many 

 of which are peculiar to the salmon cannery industry in Alaska. These 

 include: 



1. Location of most canna-ies at isolated spots far fro~ any 

 city. 



2. Operation of cannery by large crews of persons shipped in 

 for the season from "outside". 



3. Short canning season, usually three to six weeks in length. 



A. Likelihood th?t fish will occur in gluts on peak days during 

 fishing season. 



5. Highly perishable nature of salmon waste. 



6. Hi^ operating costs in Alaska, 



7. Dependence for transportation upon shipping which, in the 



past, has often been interrupted for months by labor difficulties. 



In order to successf-ully utilize the Alaska salmon cannery waste, 

 it will be necessary to (1) find a product or, bet*, er, several products 

 which can be prepared from the waste with a high enough selling price that 

 the high Alaskan costs will not be prohibitive, and (2) develop some 

 method of handling the huge gluts of waste, presumably by finding some 

 suitable preservation technic whereby processing can be carried out over 

 a longer period of time than the very short fishing season. These problems 

 will be treated in greater detail in Part 2 of this report. 



The work under this project was divided into the following fields: 



1. Literature search and survey of industrial and economic 

 possibilities. 



2. Collection of samples of Alaskan salmon cannery waste for sub- 

 sequent research. 



