Shellfish flesh waste in bait

Summary

Shell waste is a major problem with UK production of waste from calcareous shellfish (excluding Nephrops and shrimp) of around 75,000t/yr of which potentially ~20,000t is flesh. Although there are many theoretical options for the use of waste shell few are commercially viable, often due to the costs of separation and cleaning. Previous work has shown it is possible to separate the flesh from the shell and supply the ‘free of flesh shell’ for use in aggregates; however this leaves the problem of what to do with the fleshy material. The current “Proof of Concept” project has focused on the use of shellfish waste derived flesh waste in commercial bait. A comprehensive set of trials with bait sticks prepared from scallop (King & Queen), whelk, and crab waste demonstrated that the fleshy waste from shell is a suitable material for baits. Whelk and crab waste formed very good baits for lobster attraction and were comparable to standard baits for whelk attraction

Author

• Karen Green

Publication Reference No.

C81_SR603

Publication date

01 October 2008