SEA 



SCIENCE 



Variety, Flavor, Shelf Life 



FRG is a unique program that supports the 

 development of value-added items. Funded by the 

 North Carolina General Assembly and adminis- 

 tered by North Carolina Sea Grant, the program 

 helps people in the fishing and seafood industries 

 to develop ideas for improving their businesses 

 and the resources they depend upon. 



Nash points to the success of Wanchese 

 Fish Company, Inc. in developing the Scallop 

 Medallion through a previous FRG project using 

 enzymatic cold-binding to create large scallops 

 from smaller, less profitable ones. 



The Sea Safari FRG began as a project to 

 find out how textured vegetable proteins can add 

 value to processed or cooked seafood, Nash says. 

 He and Sarah Harris, Sea Safari's former director 

 of research and development, proposed creating 

 four new products: shrimp and crab appetizers, 

 an inexpensive crab cake to target an economy 

 market, and a higher priced crab cake to appeal to 

 more affluent customers who shop online. 



Results exceeded expectations. The 

 company's list of value-added seafood grew from 

 four to 26. 



Nash also is helping Don and Doug Cross of 

 Pamlico Packing Company in Vandemere to de- 

 velop a line of seafood dips and salads that offers 

 a 30-day refrigerated shelf life. The preservation 

 system, which controls bacteria and growth, was 

 developed through an FRG project. 



Doug Cross says that he turned to value- 

 added products when the raw seafood business 

 began to fall off. 



"I think value-added is the wave of the 

 future," says Cross. "Consumers are looking for 

 an easy way out at lunch or dinnertime." 



Pamlico Packing's new line of 12 value- 

 added products, including shrimp pasta salad, 

 cajun crayfish pimento cheese and hot crabmeat 

 dip, will debut this spring. 



Nash also will use the new preservation 

 system to help Jerry Smith, "Chef Dirt" of Dirt 

 Enterprises, Inc. in Harbinger, to extend the shelf 



life of devil crab, smoked salmon, shrimp, crab 

 and tuna dips now sold in grocery stores along 

 the Outer Banks. All the dips are made from 

 fresh ingredients. 



"The products now have a 14-day shelf 

 life," says Smith. "I am getting ready to expand 

 (the distribution of) the line to Washington, D.C., 

 Virginia and Baltimore and need to lengthen the 

 shelf life beyond two weeks." 



Nash's work includes items that compliment 

 seafood. Recently, he helped Carteret County food 

 entrepreneur Priscilla Livingston reformulate a 

 line of vinegarettes that can be used on seafood 

 and meats for the growing specialty foods market. 



"Priscilla's sauces were formulated with 

 costly ingredients such as olive oil," says Nash. "I 

 worked with her on using lower-cost ingredients 

 like canola oil that don't sacrifice product quality. 

 Also, I used an emulsifier to prevent oil and 

 vinegar separation, thereby enhancing the visual 

 quality of her products. In addition, I helped her 

 convert her recipes so that they could be batched, 

 cooked and packed on a mass- 

 production basis." 



Canadian seafood buyers 

 who have traditionally bought 

 N.C. seafood commodities say 

 they foresee a bright future for 

 a wide variety of value-added 

 products. 



"Value-added products 

 are useful, especially for small 

 restaurants and banquets," says 

 Gus Nikoletsos of City Fish 

 Market in Toronto. "In Canada, 

 the banquet market is huge." c 



CLOCKWISE FROM TOP LEFT: 

 Barry Nash ( center) has helped Sea 

 Safari and other seafood companies 

 develop value-added products. • 

 One of Sea Safari's tasty products 

 is a deviled crab. • Workers at 

 Sea Safari package crab products. 

 • Sarah Harris helped develop 

 the crab cake and other products 

 that are packaged at the plant in 

 Belhaven. 



COASTWATCH 29 



