BULLETIN OF THE 



IT 



No. 150 



Contribution from the Bureau of Soils, Milton S. Whitney, Chief. 

 January 23, 1915. 



UTILIZATION OF THE FISH WASTE OF THE PACIFIC 

 COAST FOR THE MANUFACTURE OF FERTILIZER. 



By J. W. Ttjbbenttne, 

 Scientist in Soil Laboratory Investigations. 



CONTENTS. 



Page. 



Introduction 1 



Technology of canning 4 



Production of canned salmon 12 



Centers of the industry 13 



The waste produced in the canning 



of salmon 16 



Other salmon-preserving industries — 22 

 Chemical composition of the raw 



cannery waste 23 



Methods of disposal of waste 25 



Amount of waste utilized in the 



various centers 27 



Page. 



Fish scrap from salmon waste 28 



The products 32 



Methods proposed for the treatment 

 of salmon cannery waste on a 



large scale 36 



The small by-products plant oper- 

 ated as an integral part of the 



cannery 44 



Cost 49 



The production of a mixed fertilizer 



from fish scrap and kelp 52 



Fish scrap from other fish 66 



INTRODUCTION. 



In pursuance of the investigation by the Bureau of Soils of the 

 fertilizer resources of the United States, the fisheries of the Pacific 

 coast, particularly the salmon-canning industry, were examined dur- 

 ing the summer of 1913 to determine the possibility of developing 

 a source of fertilizer materials in the waste produced in that industry. 

 The purpose of this investigation was (1) to determine the amount 

 of waste and the places where produced, and (2) the possibilities of 

 its utilization as a source of fertilizer. Obviously, it is of little inter- 

 est to know the fertilizer resources of the country without knowing 

 how they may be utilized; the possibility of their utilization deter- 

 mines their value as resources. A third aspect was given the investi- 

 gation by the problem of determining possible ways in which waste 

 fish could be conserved in conjunction with that other vast source of 

 fertilizer materials, now practically untouched, the giant kelps of 

 the Pacific coast. 



Note. — This bulletin discusses the utilization of fish waste in the salmon-canning and 

 similar industries on the Pacific coast as a source of fertilizer material. 



59351°— Bull. 150—15 1 



