Work will be performed in the fishing town of Caleta Portales, with financial assistance equivalent to US $274,500 from the regional government of the Valparaiso region, and was commissioned by the Chilean Undersecretariat of Fisheries and Aquaculture (SUBPESCA), reports Fish Information and Services.
SUBPESCA head Raul Súnico stressed that this new project is committed to production diversification.
"The waste from fishing flying jumbo squid, hake and Southern rays bream will no longer be waste, but may become another marketable product, opening up new possibilities for small-scale fishing," he explained.
For his part, Ricardo Radebach, who works at the Fisheries Development Division of SUBPESCA, said: "Portales is an emblematic cove nationwide, since due to its infrastructure it is destined to become a service centre and to use products that have no value today, it is following the line."
In addition, he indicated that in the future it could "provide waste processing services to other coves in the region."
Project manager Manuel Young said that a demonstration plant will be installed in the cove for it to be operational by the end of the year.
In the processing module, raw fish waste material will be reduced until it creates a kind of concentrated brick, with fish and flying jumbo squid serving as the basis for developing these marketable products.
In the first stage, the idea is to develop pellets for cats, anticipated Mr Young.
Meanwhile, Eduardo Quiroz, from Caleta Portales, said that this project will not only make it possible to advance in fisheries diversification, but it will also contribute to protecting the environment and costs.
SUBPESCA plans to use the results of this initiative to implement it in other coves.
