Development and Optimization of Fish Hydrolysate Fertilizer Formulation

The fish processing industry produces a high level of fish waste (head, bones, skin, fins, etc.) which is often discarded in landfills. This underutilized biomass waste stream has potential to be upgraded through hydrolysis to be used an organic fertilizer. Eberts Fur Farm Inc. currently obtains fish waste from a local food supplier to use in their animal feed formulation. They are now looking to diversify their business with the production of organic fish-based liquid fertilizer in order to fulfill Chatham-Kent’s demand for a regional and organic supplier of fertilizer solutions. The main objective of this project is to develop and optimize the formulation and production of fish hydrolysate fertilizer. Eberts has already experimented with hydrolyzing fish waste to fertilizer, but needs help in optimizing the process, especially in light of the observation that their three different fish feedstocks react differently to the hydrolysis process.

Faculty Supervisor:

Rob Nicol

Student:

Collin Boyd;Riddhi Patel

Partner:

Eberts Fur Farm Inc.

Discipline:

Other

Sector:

Other

University:

Lambton College