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Using a hydrolysis process, scientists have extracted heparin in skins from cod, tuna, grouper and soon, Alaska salmon. That exciting prospect is based on early work by Erwin Coyne, a research chemist at Loyola University Medical Center and the Hines Veterans Administration Hospital. Using a small sample from skin taken from a side of Copper River salmon his wife found at an Illinois supermarket, Coyne's analysis (using a process called NMR, or nuclear magnetic resonance) revealed the presence of heparin.
Coyne and his associates recently obtained a $250,000 federal grant to explore the content and potency of heparin in tuna and salmon.
"But I was never able to get ahold of salmon skins until I found Bill Webber (of Cordova) on the Internet. He'll send me about 30 pounds of salmon skins when the season starts and then we'll really begin our study," Coyne said in a phone interview.
Coyne said Alaska is "sitting on a gold mine for pharmaceuticals," and it would not take a tremendous investment from the seafood industry to take advantage of it. He estimated it would cost about $150,000 to set up a hydrolysate plant which would yield a crude form of heparin that could be sold to pharmaceutical companies.
"You don't manufacture vials of heparin - you sell the basic powder to pharmaceutical companies and let them do the formulating and marketing," Coyne said.
Coyne said pharmaceutical companies are excited about a seafood connection for heparin, because the source used now is usually pig intestines. "Many people in the world do not want or cannot consume a pork product. There are a lot of Muslims and very devout Jews out there," he said.
On other fronts, Coyne said Koreans use fish hydrolysate as a food flavoring, the slime on fish has antibacterial and antifungal properties, and fish scales are in demand by the cosmetics industry. "The iridescent lipsticks and nail polishes are made with fish scales. But they're not going to tell you that," Coyne added with a laugh.
Closer to home, a new company called Alaska Protein Recovery of Juneau will continue its project this year of turning salmon wastes (and wasted salmon) into hydrolysates for use in animal and plant feeds, pet foods and for human consumption. The transformation occurs aboard a 260-foot by 60-foot floating barge called the Alaskan Venturer.
The Venturer is equipped with state of the art protein extraction equipment and computerized control systems for high-volume, continuous operation. It is capable of converting 330,000 pounds of salmon into 50 metric tons of liquid fish protein hydrolysate per day.
"Hydrolyzed salmon protein is 99 percent digestible, making it ideal for infant feed formulas," said spokesman Sandro Lane. The project is funded in part through the Southeast Alaska Sustainable Salmon Fund in partnership with the Alaska Department of Environmental Conservation and the Juneau Economic Development Council.
Some startling related facts: Approximately 60 percent of the salmon harvested in Alaska is used for human consumption when the fish is canned, fresh or frozen. The remaining 40 percent is considered waste (head, fins, guts, bones, etc.). If salmon are harvested for their eggs (e.g. chums) as much as 90 percent of the fish is wasted. A whopping 40 percent of Alaska's total seafood catch is ground up and discharged back into the ocean under permits granted by the Environmental Protection Agency.
Swimming toward the Olympics
Derek Gibb of Petersburg has fished nearly all his life. Now he's fishing for another goal: making the U.S. swim team in time for the summer Olympics in Athens, Greece.
Gibb was Alaska's male high school swimmer of the year in 1998, went to Golden West College in California in 1999, and was quickly recruited by national swimming powerhouse Auburn University in Alabama.
"Since then we've won two national championships and I've been on three relay teams that broke world records. It's pretty amazing," he said in a phone interview.
The 6-foot-8-inch tall swimmer, who is majoring in criminology, turned professional a few weeks ago. That means he can seek sponsors to help him defray the costs of his Olympic quest. He's hoping for help from Alaska's seafood industry, and promises they'll get lots of good publicity.
"I'm in the process of trying to get some fish companies to help me out. I can wear a picture of a salmon or a seafood logo on my swim trunks when I'm on the blocks when all the TV cameras are on me. I'll do anything to make people aware that wild seafood from Alaska is better than farmed fish," Gibb said.
The Olympic swim team trials are set for July 7-14 in Long Beach, Calif. The Olympic games kick off in mid-August. "If I make the team, I'm going to Greece. If I don't, I'm coming back to Petersburg and going seining on the Erika Ann," Gibb said.
Gibb can be reached at 334-750-0678, via e-mail at gibbder@auburn.edu or through his parents, Larry and Kim Gibb, who now live in Juneau.
Stability survey
Vessel safety folks want input from mariners to help identify "best practices" in terms of vessel stability. An online survey, developed by Seattle-based Jensen Maritime Consultants (a naval architect firm) and the North Pacific Fishing Vessel Owners Association, will be used as part of a publication to be distributed to the fishing industry this fall. The 31-question survey is completely voluntary and anonymous. Find it at: www.npfvoa.org/stability_survey.htm For more information, contact Sue Jorgensen, fishing vessel safety coordinator in Juneau, at 907-463-2810. Deadline for submission is June 15.
Kodiak-based free-lance writer Laine Welch can be reached via e-mail at msfish@alaska.com.
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