Cod swimming.
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FHF – Norwegian Seafood Research Fund has announced funding of up to NOK 3 million (approximately €260,000) for a project aimed at developing a whitefish production concept based on partially thawed raw materials for fillet processing.
According to the Norwegian organization, frozen and subsequently thawed whitefish can achieve quality and shelf life comparable to that of fresh whitefish. To achieve this, proper process control, appropriate freezing and thawing strategies, and stable cold chains are required.
The concept behind this project is based on not fully thawing the raw material before further processing, allowing a certain proportion of ice to remain in the fish during processing.
Because the raw material is firmer and has different mechanical properties compared to fully thawed fish, a different processing strategy would need to be adopted to adapt existing production lines.
Therefore, the ultimate objectives of the funded project are to identify relevant process parameters and plan and conduct industrial trials using partially thawed fish, document the effects on quality and raw material yield, and evaluate how the concept impacts industrial production processes.
As early as 2025, the European seafood industry, represented by Seafood Europe, warned that pressure on the supply of wild-caught whitefish could negatively affect the EU processing sector.
Seafood Europe advocates safeguarding processing, employment, and the competitiveness of the EU seafood industry by strengthening the supply of seafood raw materials.