Fish is not only a valuable meat but also some amount of waste resulting from the processing of the products. Scales, skin, viscera and bones, of course, can be disposed of by traditional methods at special landfills, but this is irrational and quite problematic for residents of the region where the enterprise operates. Who has ever smelled a fish head lying in the trash, will agree that this aroma is absolutely impossible to live next to. Meanwhile, Arctic aquaculture is showing a steady increase in fish production, and with it comes the pressing issue of recycling food waste into something useful.

In early April, specialists of the Russian Arctic Research Centre proposed a technological scheme for processing fish production waste into collagen. Without revealing the name of the industrial partner, the scientists talked about the success of the project—to date, they have prepared a technological scheme, as well as products in a consumer-friendly form. 

According to experts, river collagen from fish is assimilated in the human body by 98%, while its analogue, derived from the skin of cattle, only by 60–62%. This substance can be used in the production of dietary supplements, cosmetic products and hair care products.

In general, fish production waste has a very wide range of applications. Thus, they can be used to produce feed for pigs and poultry. The digestibility of proteins from them ranges from 87 to 90%, and with a high degree of processing, it is possible to obtain blends with a long shelf life. It is also possible to fertilize plants with fish production residues as well. One of the technologies is an extreme version of fermented fish soup—the waste is first boiled at 80–90°C in a huge vat and then loaded into a reactor where it is digested using anaerobic bacteria. During the 2–3 weeks of being in the 'fermentation vat,' the beneficial substances saturate the liquid, on which you can then grow almost any kind of plant. There are other options for processing fish into a nutritious slurry for your favourite roses and potato fields—you can pour formic acid over it and let it infuse until it dissolves. In Karelia, OJSC Sovkhoz Tolvuysky reported the start of applying this product supplied by Russian Sea Aquaculture.

However, all the mentioned methods of processing fish waste are unlikely to surprise experts at the moment—the ancient Scandinavians thought of feeding pigs with fish heads. But plastic production using waste fish oil seems to be a more modern idea. The Krasnoyarsk Scientific Centre of the Siberian Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences proposed to use waste from the production of canned sprat as a carbon base for creating biodegradable plastic. It can be used in agriculture and medicine and eventually expanded for more green materials. The essence of the technology is that polymer compounds are synthesised by bacteria, which will be 'fed' with fish waste. Of course, in a high degree of purification. But scientists from Arkhangelsk propose to leave some of the waste in its original form and give it to flies to eat. Alexander Antonov from NArFU, head of the project on the creation of fodder for salmon fry, shared his project on breeding the black soldier fly, the larvae of which can become the basis for producing fodder for aquaculture fry. It reproduces perfectly, its nutritional properties for fish are just right, and in the meantime, the fly eagerly disposes of food waste. The result is almost a closed loop of production, where each element is a technological step for the reproduction of the subsequent one.

By 2030, aquaculture productivity is expected to grow by 14%, and last year's production figure reached 402 thousand tons. In the Polar Region, enterprises for breeding valuable fish species are growing and expanding every year, both due to the preferences of the special regime of the AZRF and the support of regional authorities, and due to the large volume of unoccupied niches. The recycling of fish production waste can become an additional driver for the development of the industry by solving many pressing problems.