Considerations on fishing and industrial utilization of seabob shrimp by- catch in the southeastern coast of Brazil

Abstract

This work reports on the harvest, composition and utilization of the by-catch of the seabob shrimp fisheries that are done by trawling nets of very small mesh size and hence of very low selectivity. The volume incidentally harvested is very high. Handling the bulk aboard fishing vessels, the variability of the composition of the catch and low market value of the by-catch are the more critical hindrances to the utilization of this by-catch. The suitability of these species for processing as an acceptable food product depends also on the development of an appropriate technology. The processing of this by-catch in the southeastern coast of Brazil, in order to obtain a basic raw material for many food products was shown to be technically feasible by the Section of Fishery Products in ITAL (Institute for Food Technology). A study on the economic feasibility of the processing of such by-catch as fish sticks; salted, pressed and deboned fish flesh and flour of a mixture of fish flesh with broken rice showed those to be very attractive enterprises.