Seafood Lab looks at glazing, flaki 



(Continued from page 1) 



And Mrs. Avery isn't the only person to watch 

 out for. There's a bunch of them — called Nutrition 

 Leaders — who meet every month at the UNC Sea 

 Grant Seafood Laboratory in Morehead City to 

 come up with more and better ways to use often 

 unpopular, wasted and cheaper fish as well as 

 stretch more expensive seafoods. The fish flakes 

 are something the group cooks up to get more 

 mileage out of fish. 



"We're always experimenting," says Mrs. Avery. 

 As a result, she's learned "that I could eat fish in 

 many different ways." She's passed that infor- 

 mation on to the club she represents. 



Problem is, while North Carolina fishermen 

 bring in about 3 percent of the nation's catch, they 

 get about 1 percent of the national value. And be- 

 sides, a lot of fish is wasted in culling and pro- 

 cessing. 



So, part of the Seafood Lab's work is to boost the 

 market and help industry as well as the consumer. 

 The idea is to help fish processors market a better 

 product and put unpopular, wasted seafoods to 

 work. 



The folks at the lab are always coming up with 

 things that make for better seafood, whether it's a 

 method of glazing to lock in flavors or smoking to 

 add more flavor or a recipe to use a new product — 

 such as the fish flakes. 



But their work has to start long before that at 

 the crucial point when the fish is taken from the 

 water where deterioration can set in. To help fish- 

 ermen and handlers take better care of fish, Ted 

 Miller, Food Science Extension Specialist at the 

 Seafood Lab, will be looking into improved ways 

 to get the fish iced as quickly as possible. 



That's because Seafood Lab studies show that 

 proper handling extends shelf-life markedly. And 

 that's also why the folks at the Seafood Lab have 

 worked extensively with processors to streamline 

 and speed up their operations. The idea, Miller 

 explains, is "to keep it clean, keep it cool and keep 

 it moving." 



And to get the product from dock to market, the 

 Seafood Lab is working with the Cryovac Division, 

 W.R. Grace and Company, in cooperative tests of 

 packaging. The tests involve using a skrinkable 

 bag that molds itself to the contour of the fish and 

 locks out air. 



The University of North Carolina Sea Grant Program 

 Newsletter is published monthly by the University of North 

 Carolina Sea Grant Program, 1235 Burlington Laboratories, 

 Yarborough Drive, North Carolina State University, 

 Raleigh, N.C. 27607. Vol. 3, No. 5. May, 1976. Dr. B. J. Cope- 

 land, director. Karen Jurgensen, editor. Second-class postage 

 paid at Raleigh, N.C. 27611. 



Pizza topped with a seafood sauce promises to offer 

 good way to use "trash" fish. 



The lab is also studying processes and new pro 

 ucts. Like Mrs. Avery and her home-cooked flakt 

 fish, extensive work has also been done with m 

 chanical deboning of fish for commercial use. 



And, so far, studies on the effects of freezing c 

 seafood indicate that consumers are as happy wii 

 properly handled frozen fish as with fresh. R 

 cently, with Sea Grant's help North Carolina pr< 

 cessors have been branching out into more froze 

 fish, Miller says. 



The work in handling, freezing and packagir 

 is part of an attempt to help processors take ai 

 vantage of potential products and extend season, 

 variety — to enable them to handle and sell croakt 

 when there is no flounder, for example. 



The Seafood Lab is looking for ways to use tl 

 variety of fish readily available in North Carolir 

 waters, but not welcome on Tar Heel tables. 



One study involves examining the physic- 

 properties of the relatively unpopular croaker du 

 ing freezing. The study is also intended to establis 



