By Laine Welch
For the Journal

At this time of year when we are giving gifts and rejoicing at miracles, remember that some of the most wondrous gifts come from unlikely places - such as under the sea.

For example, take chitin - a substance found in the shells of crab, shrimp and other crustaceans. Shrimp-based bandages that stop life-threatening bleeding are saving the lives of many of our troops in Iraq. The bandages quickly seal wounds by forming clots in just one to five minutes. Bleeding is the main cause of death among soldiers in the field.

Ground up shrimp shells stirred into a nasal spray are being tested in England as a treatment for asthma, allergies and hay fever. The long-term goal is to use the shrimp nasal spray in children to prevent allergies from developing at all.

Russian researchers at the Pacific Institute of Bio-organic Chemistry are currently conducting more than 40 tests in search of new plants and seafood that could be used in the pharmaceutical industry. They have found that cleansing lotions made from Kamchatka king crab shells effectively treat burns, chilblains, gangrene and varicose sores. They call sea urchin pigment remarkable for its antioxidant, anti-germ and anti-inflammatory properties.

New sea urchin medications are used for treating eye and heart diseases. The Russian scientists also have discovered a compound in both sea cucumbers and brown seaweed that forms the basis of a new immunity-enhancing drug. The brown seaweed also reduces damage from radiation exposure.

And crab shells hold the secret to removing stinky smells from sweaty T-shirts and socks. A South Carolina company has created a chitin-based product called "Be Fresh," which converts the acids found in sweat to salt, preventing odors from ever forming. Several years ago, a Japanese clothing company launched a line of seafood underwear treated with chitin and a shark liver extract, said to promote the release of moisture and oils. The seafood skivvies are especially suited to the elderly or people with dry, sensitive skin.

In his Ocean Action Plan last week, President George W. Bush mentioned sea creatures that produce biochemicals - such as the horseshoe crab, whose blood is used to test intravenous drugs for bacteria. Jellyfish contain a special bioluminescence used in medical research. For centuries, Asian cultures have used jellyfish to treat arthritis, high blood pressure and back pain.

Researchers in Chicago are finding that salmon skins are a good source of a natural product called heparin, which prevents or dissolves blood clots.

Finally, next month Maruha Corp. (parent company of Westward Seafoods), will begin sales of gelatin made from farmed tilapia skins. It will import the fish skins from China and produce the gelatin in Japan. Most gelatins are derived from livestock, but fears of mad cow disease in Japan have boosted demand for fish-based gelatin. The product will be used in jellies and other foods. Maruha will also produce collagen peptide from the skins for use in health foods. The company will reportedly sell the new fish-based gelatin for roughly $17 dollars a pound.

Gear contest deadline passes with no Alaska ideas likely

The Smart Gear contest that will award a $25,000 first prize has attracted worldwide interest - except for Alaska. The contest, spawned by the World Wildlife Fund and other conservation groups in June, is designed to find ways to reduce bycatch in fishing gear. It covers three categories: cetaceans (whales, dolphins, porpoises), sea turtles and all other non-target species.

The Smart Gear contest deadline was Dec 31.

By last week, the Smart Gear contest had drawn several dozen entries from six continents, according to WWF's Karen Baragona. "Ideas range from high tech to low tech to no tech," she said, noting that most entries have come from fishermen. "Our goal was to draw on that untapped potential," Baragona said. She added that she was somewhat surprised that there were no entries from Alaska, since it is home to the world's most abundant and successful fisheries.

A panel of judges from around the globe will select the winners as part of a bycatch reduction workshop on Feb. 17-18 in Washington, D.C. Along with the $25,000 grand prize, two $5,000 runner-up awards will also be selected.

Stinky winner

Earlier this year, a similar contest to find ways to keep seabirds away from baited longline hooks yielded a winning "no tech" entry - a stinky oil slick.

Alex Aitkin of New Zealand and Peter Robinson of Australia both independently submitted the idea of dripping fish liver grease onto the water off a vessel's stern. The smelly mixture creates an oil slick on the surface long enough to allow the baited hooks to sink beyond the reach of diving seabirds.

Aitken told the New Zealand Herald that the birds seem to know the smell of the mixture and "avoid it like the plague." He added that the birds probably don't like to get their feathers soaked by the stinky grease. The recipe is simple: fish livers are mashed into a paste and stored in a container for a few days. Then just drip it overboard when setting out the gear. Two to three quarts is suggested per 1,000 hooks, the men said. When used along with streamer lines, it's almost 100 percent effective.

Carles Carbonera of Birdlife International, sponsor of the competition, commended the winners for coming up with something that is cheap, reliable, environmentally friendly, and that uses something that's always on hand - rotten fish.

The winners received $18,000. In all, the contest received 87 entries from 11 countries.

Other fishermen are invited to test the stinky oil slick idea and send comments to Birdlife International.

Kodiak-based freelance writer Laine Welch can be reached via e-mail at msfish@alaska.com.