Tiny Fish

<body topmargin=0 leftmargin=0 marginheight=0 marginwidth=0> <table cellpadding=0 cellspacing=0 border=0><tr> <td valign="top" colspan=2 height=110 BGCOLOR="#999933" TEXT="#080000" bgproperties="fixed" background="04a006e0ddwnfv.png"> <div> <FONT SIZE="5" COLOR="#FFFFFF" FACE="Arial" ><B>Gloucester Community Development Corporation                                            </B></FONT><B>     |     </B><A HREF="index.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Gloucester Community Development Corpora"><U><B>home</B></U></A></div> <div> back to<B>  </B><A HREF="id82.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="in the media"><U><B>in the media</B></U></A></div> <div> </div> </td> </tr><tr> <td valign="top" width=160 BGCOLOR="#CCCC99" TEXT="#080000" background="052a0c00esnpes.png"> <div> <A HREF="id89.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="in the media"><U>in the media</U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id90.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Sumptuous Surimi Seafood Science"><U>Sumptuous Surimi Seafood Science</U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id91.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Arts Survey"><U>Arts Survey</U></A></div> <div> <B>Tiny Fish</B></div> <div> <A HREF="id86.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Living on Earth"><U>Living on Earth</U></A></div> <bR> <div> <B><IMG SRC="0dba5440.png" border=0 width="165" height="68" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></B></div> <bR> <bR> <div> <B><IMG SRC="12f7e340.png" border=0 width="126" height="52" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></B></div> </td> <td valign="top" height=370 BGCOLOR="#FFFFFF" TEXT="#080000"> <div> The Gloucester Daily Times, <FONT SIZE="3" COLOR="#0099FF" FACE="Arial" >May 21, 2001 </FONT></div> <bR> <div> Tiny fish, huge future, say herring fans</div> <bR> <bR> <div> By BARBARA TAORMINA</div> <bR> <div> Times staff</div> <bR> <bR> <div> Carmine Gorga and Ed Lima believe herring can play a leading role in Gloucester's evolving waterfront. </div> <bR> <div> As the leaders of the newly formed Gloucester Community Development Corp., a local non-profit economic development organization, Gorga and Lima are making the rounds with an idea to create a new high-tech plant to process herring and other pelagic fish.</div> <bR> <div> Both Gorga and Lima are members of Gloucester Initiatives, a grassroots group of local activists committed to protecting the harbor as Gloucester's central economic resource.</div> <bR> <div> Their immediate goal with the new herring plan is to get fishermen, processors and other waterfront advocates to the table to talk. The long-term goal is to transform Gloucester into a high-tech seafood processing center. </div> <bR> <div> One of Gorga and Lima's first official stops was at last week's Fisheries Commission meeting where they briefly introduced their idea. </div> <bR> <div> "We are looking at getting support for a herring manufacturing plant," Lima told the commission. "We are looking at creating a value-added product with a manufacturing plant that's very high- tech, very green." </div> <bR> <div> The idea as it now stands is to build a plant that will process herring, mackerel and menhaden into surimi (sir-ree-me), a concentrated fish paste that is used as the basis for other seafood products. </div> <bR> <div> According to Trident Seafoods, a leading U.S. producer of surimi, the process was developed in Japan almost 1,000 years ago. </div> <bR> <div> Nowadays, whole fish is boned, skinned, minced, washed and strained into concentrated fish paste, which is then flash-frozen. Processors then add flavorings such as crab extract, as well as natural coloring and natural binders and stabilizers, such as starch, salt, egg white and sugar. </div> <bR> <div> The surimi seafood is then shaped to look like the product it imitates, and marketed under various brand names. </div> <bR> <div> Labels on surimi seafood are required by law to say "imitation" to avoid confusion with the real product. </div> <bR> <div> Although Gorga and Lima have yet to start work on the details of what they estimate will be a $10 million plant, they highlighted what they believe are the proposal's key benefits. </div> <bR> <div> Because the waterfront lacks the infrastructure to handle fish waste, most fish is landed and then shipped with little or no processing. A surimi plant would bring fish processing back to the waterfront, which has essentially operated as a fish transfer station for the past decade.</div> <bR> <div> Processing pelagics into surimi would add approximately four times the value to the original fish product, according to Lima. Those types of potential profits make working with low-paying catches a more attractive option to fishermen and processors accustomed to earning six cents a pound or less from herring. </div> <bR> <div> Surimi's value-added benefits also ease the need for huge volumes of fish needed to support a more traditional herring or mackerel manufacturing plant. Thus the risk of overfishing and depleting stocks is less of a concern. </div> <bR> <div> Lima also stressed that the plant would incorporate the latest water reclamation and processing technologies that would produce little or no waste. </div> <bR> <div> Gorga and Lima want to talk with anyone and everyone about the idea, but they are paying close attention to ideas and opinions from the waterfront. </div> <bR> <div> "We want to put together fishermen and processors and let them argue about their needs," said Gorga. "We want them on both sides of the table surrounded by experts who can offer technical advice." </div> <bR> <div> But they also intend to work closely with the city's Community Development Department, Mayor Bruce Tobey, the Cape Ann Chamber of Commerce and anyone interested in becoming involved in hammering a working proposal that will draw funding and investors. </div> <bR> <div> Still, they admit that building trust and cooperation will be a difficult task. </div> <bR> <div> "Saying the fishing industry is dead is almost a slogan and this is what has to be changed," said Gorga, who hopes the new idea will help boost community confidence in the waterfront. "The issue is to convince people in Gloucester that the fishing industry is alive and well and can have a brilliant future." </div> <bR> <div>  </div> <bR> <bR> <div> --------------------------------------------------------------------------------</div> <div> | Gloucester Daily Times Home Page | Email the Editor | PageOne | Community News | Sports | Opinion | Around The Cape | For The Record | Classified Searchable | Classifieds | </div> <div>  --------------------------------------------------------------------------------</div> <bR> <bR> </td> </tr></table></body>