Food from the sea 



North Carolina's seafood industry has come a long 

 way in recent years. In 1977 it was a $161 million 

 business. But, as any fisherman can tell you, there's 

 still room for improvement. Six Sea Grant-supported 

 food from the sea projects are lending a hand this 

 year. 



Right now new markets hold the promise of expan- 

 sion for the industry. Recent studies show that con- 

 sumers in inland areas would buy large quantities of 

 fresh and frozen seafoods if they could get consis- 

 tently good products. But because seafoods are highly 

 perishable, transportation over long distances has 

 been a problem. This year food scientists Tyre 

 Lanier, Frank Thomas and economist Ed Leonard of 

 NCSU are working on methods to determine the 

 quality of fish and predict its shelf life. They will 

 then develop packaging designed to protect the fish 

 during shipment, prolong shelf life, and improve at- 

 tractiveness to the consumer. 



About 15 million pounds of croaker were caught off 

 North Carolina in 1977. Though croaker is an ex- 

 cellent source of protein, most of the catch was 

 ground into pet food and fertilizer. Food scientists 

 Don Hamann, Frank Thomas and Tyre Lanier of 

 NCSU think the protein could be put to better use. 

 For the past two years, they've been working on 

 products that are appealing to the consumer. So far 

 they have developed a luncheon loaf, a wiener 

 product, fish jerky, spreads and dips. This year they 

 are trying to identify and eliminate the handling and 

 processing practices that lead to poor texture of 



croaker meat. 



Before any of the new products can be commer- 

 cially produced and marketed, there's one important 

 question that must be answered: how long can the 

 fresh or frozen products be stored safely? Hamann 

 and his associates would prefer to produce products 

 without using artificial preservatives. In that case, 

 shelf life depends largely upon the types of bacteria 

 present and how fast they reproduce. This year 

 NCSU food scientists Marvin Speck and Bibek Ray 

 will be doing bacteriological studies on the new 

 products. 



Speck and Ray also have received funding for 

 another project which could have important reper- 

 cussions in the seafood industry. They are trying to 

 develop a test to differentiate between pathogenic 

 and non-pathogenic bacteria in seafoods. There's 

 evidence that the standard tests being used to deter- 

 mine the safety of shellfish aren't entirely reliable. 

 The scientists are looking at two types of bacteria 

 which have been known to cause outbreaks of food 

 poisoning: Vibrio parahaemolyticus and Vibrio 

 cholera. 



Aquaculture is one way of making better use of the 

 ocean's resources. For the past five years Sea Grant 

 has funded an experimental eel farm near New Bern. 

 Researchers have raised American eels which are ac- 

 ceptable to connoisseurs in Japan, where the eel is 

 considered a delicacy. This year the operation is mov- 

 ing to bigger and better facilities at ECU's Coastal 

 Resources Center near Aurora. Sea Grant's associate 



