A joint venture led by Scoular is behind the first-of-its-kind plant in 25 years in North America, which is expected to upscale fish trimmings from 2023.
The site, located at the Port of Astoria’s Airport Industrial Park, will upcycle fish trimmings from suppliers Da Yang and Bornstein Seafoods. They will process the trimmings into fishmeal and fish oil for the pet food market.
The new $17.5 million plant arrives in a spike of demand for fishmeal due to its digestible protein amongst pet food manufacturers over the few years.
“Our new joint venture meets this demand through innovation and by bringing together two longtime local businesses with Scoular to create a sustainable protein ingredient for pet food and aquafeed,” said Scoular CEO Paul Maass.
The final product will be marketed under Scoular’s Encompass, the new brand of the Nebraska-based company created last year for its global fishmeal business.
Seafood resources
Bornstein Seafood believes that the joint venture will help to prioritize local ocean resources and reduce the need to ship to distant markets.
“Bornstein Seafoods has long sought to utilize 100% of our seafood resources as locally as possible, and this new facility will allow us to do just that,” commented Andrew Bornstein, Vice President at Bornstein Seafoods.
“Having an opportunity like this for Da Yang to partner with Scoular is a dream come true,” added Chih Wang, CEO of Da Yang Seafood.
