A study on revision of regulations to promote bio-materialization of the Fishery Processing Industry’s residue

Abstract

Despite many seafood processing by-products (scales, heads, bones, and shells of fish, shellfish, crustaceans etc.) being discarded in Korea, these raw materials could be used as the ingredients for pharmaceuticals, cosmetics, and health-functional foods. Fortunately, the Fisheries By-products Recycling Promotion Act (officially unnamed, hereinafter referred to as FBRPA) was enacted in July 2021, providing a legal basis for the recycling of fisheries by-products. But only shells from six shellfish species are treated as fishery by-products while others from fish and crustaceans are not included as fishery by-products in the Enforcement Decree of FBRPA. In this study, we attempted to find the relevant rationale for why fish by-products should be treated as fishery by-products under the FBRPA. According to the Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries in Korea, it is estimated that a total of 1,121,000 tonnes of fisheries by-products is generated, equivalent to one-third of fisheries production in 2020. The number of fish by-products generated in 2020 was 1.3 times higher than that of shellfish by-products, and also the recycling rate of fish by-products was also higher than shellfish by-products. In addition, shells are mostly used as raw materials for fertilizers in Korea, but fish by-products for bio-materials sold at an added value of more than 27 times the price of fertilizers. Based on our study, to decrease fishing processing waste and to increase utilization of fish by-products, we propose that fish by-products are included in fishery by-products under the Enforcement Decree of FBRPA.