Part of Alaska Sea Grant’s core mission is to support Alaska’s seafood industry, the state’s largest private employer. This year seafood quality specialist Chris Sannito trained new industry leaders and supported emerging businesses in product development.
One of Sannito’s pet projects was turning pollock skins into dog treats. Sannito took 500 pounds of skins to a testing and manufacturing facility in Tampa, Florida, to produce a semisoft paste with little odor but high in protein. Dogs loved it in informal taste trials.
“We have yet to find a dog that would turn them down,” Sannito said.
As a result of this research, Sannito and Quentin Fong, seafood marketing specialist, received the 2017 Invent Alaska award from the UAF Office of Intellectual Property and Commercialization. The next step is to find industry partners to develop a commercialized product.
The Alaska seafood processing industry continues to seek professional development and technical training. In 2016 Alaska Sea Grant taught seafood processing classes that support industry-identified, high-demand occupations, leading to advancement of employees and reinforcement for this strong economic sector.
Building on years of teaching food safety and hazard-control courses (also known as HACCP), Chris Sannito, Quentin Fong, Brian Himelbloom and others provided many opportunities for processor training. Classes included seafood processing quality control, thermal processing, smoking seafood, and processing roe.
Last year more than 100 people from 27 communities in Alaska completed seafood processing courses. Funding support came from industry fees and agency partners.
