SOLUTION / PUBLIC SOURCE RECORD
Melbu Systems extracts fish by-products for food and fertiliser
- Published November 22, 2022; updated September 21, 2026; estimated reading time 2 minutes. Categories: Aquaculture and fisheries; Circular economy.
- Melbu Systems supplies onshore fish-processing equipment intended to use heads, stomachs, spines, skin and other parts often treated as waste. Bulk feeders and gutting lines extract usable parts and handle by-products gently to preserve quality for specialty markets.
- In collaboration with AquaGreen Norge, Melbu produces agricultural fertiliser from fish sludge at salmon hatcheries. The sludge is dried and combusted into nutrient-rich soil material or biochar, containing phosphorus, carbon and other nutrients. The page says this can reduce fish sludge transported by road and sea and therefore cut greenhouse-gas emissions.
- The article presents growing food demand and difficulty producing enough food amid climate change and urbanisation as market drivers. It cites a forecast that worldwide food demand could increase 59–98% by 2050 and says alternative foods and products, including fish parts marketed as specialty products, can help.
- Contact: Einar Roger Pettersen, CEO, einar@melbusystems.no; phone reveal control collapsed. Company: MELBU SYSTEMS AS, Sminesgata 3, 8445 Melbu, Norway; melbusystems.no/.