Initial Publication Date: August 12, 2008

Plenty of Fish in the Sea?

Part C: Processing Fish

Fish are not only caught or grown in aquaculture for human consumption, although it is the major reason. In 2016, 12% of fish captured or grown went to uses other than human consumption. The 88% of fish grown or caught for human consumption may, depending on various factors, be sold fresh to consumers or go on to further processing.

1. Read the following excerpt from the UN FAO 2018 State of World Fisheries and Aquaculture (SOFIA) report on Fish Utilization & Processing to learn more about fish, other seafood, and their byproducts as commodities. (The excerpt begins near the bottom of the first column.)

SOFIA excerpt - Fish Utilization & Processing (Acrobat (PDF) 136kB Jul8 20)

Checking In

  • What was the largest utilization of non-food fish production, and what amount was it of the total non-food?
  • What made up the utilization of the rest of the non-food fish production?
  • When prepared for human consumption, what is the main method of using fish in Developing countries? In Developed countries?

2. The frozen foods industry finally found success with the help of a man named Clarence Birdseye who developed a new technique to freeze fish that retained its fresh flavor. Read the following article to learn more: A Chilling History of Frozen Food



Stop and Think

3: Discuss how you think the ability to freeze fish changed fishing and helped it expand globally. Be sure to give examples.


Optional Extensions

Curing Fish and other Meat

Canning Fish

Smoking Fish