Tuna Goes to Market Experiment Station research helps launch new markets for Oregon Seafood through the Community Seafood Initiative

by Alice Cascorbi

You love tuna, but the news about you’ll be able to go online, enter mercury and seafood has you con- a tracking number that’s printed fused. on the label, and find out more If you’re about to cross albacore about the fish you are about to off your shopping list, take heart! eat—including its omega-3 oil and New research from Oregon State mercury content. No more anony- University shows that albacore tuna mous fish in a can. caught off the West Coast of the Oregon’s seafood—Pacific United States is not only low in mer- oysters, pink shrimp, Dungeness cury but also high in healthy oils. crab, coho and chinook salmon, But how can you tell where the fish albacore tuna—ranks among the came from once it’s in the can? finest fresh seafood in the world. OSU’s Agricultural Experiment But isolation and economic down- Station is helping consumers learn turns have kept Oregon’s coastal the “who, what, where and how” communities from reaping the of albacore caught and canned in full benefit of that acclaim. His- Oregon. At the same time, they’re torically, much of Oregon’s ocean helping Oregon fishermen find new bounty has been sold in bulk to and better markets for their seafood. large commercial fish processors. Landing an albacore off the Oregon coast, OSU It’s part of the Community Seafood This left fishermen and coastal researchers will tag and track the fish f rom where it is landed to where it eventually will be Initiative (CSI), a partnership that communities at the mercy of mar- sold. Photo, M. Thompson. brings together the research exper- ket booms and busts that follow tise of the experiment station with such volatile commodities. For where labor costs are cheaper. Or- the financial expertise of ShoreBank example, sixty years ago, canned egon tuna fishers were left with no Enterprise Pacific, a nonprofit com- sardines put bread and butter on corporate market for their albacore. munity-development finance institu- fishermen’s tables. But when the Through the Consumer Seafood tion. sardine population crashed, fisher- Initiative, OSU researchers hope to With the help of CSI, at least one men and canneries scrambled to provide more markets and opportu- brand of Oregon canned albacore find markets for other fish. The nities for fishermen and their coastal already has information on its label salmon boom of the 1970s was communities. The initiative’s part- with the name of the fishing boat, followed by a salmon crash in the ners connect people to sources of where the tuna was caught, and what 1980s and 90s. capital for funding new businesses, kind of fishing gear was used. Soon In addition to facing unpre- to scientific expertise for developing dictable swings in the availability new products, and to basic research of fish and the constant chal- for finding new and better ways to lenges of ocean conditions, local handle seafood from boat to market. fishermen have increasingly had “Access to venture capital to compete with fisheries from broadens the reach of applied re- around the world. Until the mid- search at OSU, especially in rural 70s Bumblebee Corporation had communities,” says Michael Mor- their international headquarters rissey, director of OSU’s Seafood in Astoria, Oregon. But over the Laboratory in Astoria, part of the years, Bumblebee and other large Coastal Oregon Marine Experiment corporations have moved their Station. “We’re involving entrepre- Albacore is barcoded at sea with infromation canneries offshore, to American neurs from the beginning—not just tailored to market needs. Photo, M. Thompson Samoa, Thailand, and other places presenting them with research.” products through a busy schedule Oregon coast have less mercury in of workshops, demonstrations and their tissues than most brand-name seafood cooking classes. canned tuna. Mercury enters the In 2002, research at OSU’s environment from both natural and Seafood Lab helped CSI launch its man-made sources and builds up first value-added seafood project, over time in the meat of predatory developing prepacked oyster shoot- fish like tuna through a process of ers and an in-the-shell shucking bioaccumulation. A 2003 federal method to add value to the region’s government study found relatively farm-raised oysters. CSI partners are high levels of mercury in commer- helping to develop business plans cially canned albacore. But those for a fishermen’s market in Newport, canned fish were older, larger alba- where fishermen can sell their fresh core caught in the southern Pacific. seafood directly to consumers, chefs, Morrissey, along with graduate and retail markets. In addition, CSI students Tomoko Okada and Rosalee partners have developed a computer Rasmussen, found that younger, simulation to help coastal communi- smaller albacore, like those caught Fresh chinook is sorted for market at Trident ties plan cold-storage facilities, es- along Oregon’s coast, have far less Seafood in Newport. Photo, Lynn Ketchum. sential for marketing fresh seafood. mercury in their meat. Having the financial expertise Now the CSI team has turned of ShoreBank Pacific Enterprise its attention to an Oregon seafood has been a source of strength for product with plenty of untapped the Consumer Seafood Initiative, potential: albacore tuna. according to Morrissey. After Oregon’s albacore has three receiving word that the original advantages in the marketplace, ac- proposal to create the initiative had cording to Gil Sylvia, superintendent received a $500,000 grant from the of OSU’s Coastal Oregon Marine U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Experiment Station in Newport. Funds for Rural America, Mor- It’s caught in an environmentally rissey recalls that he and the other sensitive way; it’s high in healthful scientists “were all sitting around omega-3 fatty acids; and it’s low in toasting our success. Then the mercury. ShoreBank people said we’d really Oregon’s albacore fleet is almost need another half-million dollars all small-scale, often with family to make this work, and our jaws crews, according to Sylvia. The just dropped!” But with Pacific tuna is caught by trolling, pulling Enterprise’s expertise, the CSI multiple lures on multiple lines While workers offload salmon at Newport, Laura was able to secure an additional Anderson of Local Oceans Seafoods works the behind a moving boat. Unlike the phone to market the fresh catch to restaurants $700,000 grant from the Kellogg purse-seine nets and longlines used and retailers around the Northwest. Photo, L. Foundation. to catch most tuna, troll gear catches Ketchum Another partner in the Con- very few unwanted fish and has no “They’re fabulous fish,” says sumer Seafood Initiative is the problems with dolphins. Michael Thompson, OSU Exten- Duncan Law Seafood Consumer The high levels of omega-3 oils sion Sea Grant’s new specialist in Center in Astoria, a facility made come from the rich diet that migrat- Astoria who has been working with possible in part by the energy of ing albacore find in West Coast wa- Morrissey to develop on-board han- former OSU food science profes- ters. As the fish fatten up after their dling techniques for albacore. “The sor Duncan Law. With teams of long trek from the western side of question is, how can we get Oregon food scientists, market special- the Pacific Ocean, they become full albacore into new markets so fisher- ists, product developers and a of the natural fatty acids that protect men don’t have to rely on traditional full-time on-site master chef, the human heart and brain function. canneries?” Seafood Consumer Center focuses And OSU’s research shows Working 18-hour days side-by- on designing value-added seafood that the albacore caught along the side with fishing crews for up to techniques in the field. their tuna before canning, which OSU’s research is showing how drips away most of the natural just a little extra time can pay off oils, including the omega-3s,” says big when Oregon albacore reach Anderson. “Hand-canned fish are specialty markets, including health- cooked in the can, so they retain conscious buyers of fresh-frozen fish those oils and all the health ben- and Japanese sashimi wholesalers. efits.” Local Ocean is just one of Part of OSU’s initial research proved many firms marketing hand-canned the worth of on-board super-cold tuna from the West Coast. “It’s kind blast freezers to preserve tuna qual- of a neat thing,” says Anderson. ity while still at sea. “They’re a “Kind of like the Northwest micro- must for the sushi market,” explains breweries. It’s a regional product Thompson. with many local sources.” Laura Anderson agrees. Bet- But no matter how well handled ter than ice or brine at keeping fish it is at sea, not every Oregon alba- core is created equal. Albacore tuna is something of an oceanic indi- vidualist, not spending much time in schools. A challenge to marketers OSU faculty research assistant Sean Carroll has been inconsistency in the prod- photographs albacore tuna flesh in a “lightbox’ to test different methods of handling fish to maintain uct. In a day of trolling, a single boat the highest quality. Photo, Lynn Ketchum. might catch lean fish that just ar- rived from across the ocean and fat two weeks at a time, Thompson is fish that have been feeding here for researching the best ways to handle months. There may be younger fish those fabulous fish from hook to with very low mercury levels and market. “Albacore are basically older fish with higher levels. How warm-blooded,” says Thompson. do you market such a mixed bag? “They come over the stern of the CSI’s newest venture is the boat fifteen to twenty degrees warmer than the water.” The first hour on board is critical—“a fish This device determines the body fat in albacore that’s treated badly on the boat can tuna, making it possible to sort fish by fat content for different markets. Photo, Lynn never improve in quality later,” says Ketchum Thompson. His research is devel- oping a menu of good options that fresh, “with a blast freezer you’re re- fishermen can use to preserve the ally capturing all those intrinsic wild quality of their catch, ways of bleed- qualities of the fish. At a temperature ing, cooling, and storing the fish to of minus 40 degrees F, you’re really preserve freshness and flavor. And sealing in the integrity and freshness since fat content is important in the of the tuna,” she says. marketing of the fish, Thompson’s Anderson is an OSU graduate group is working with other re- who says she “jumped ship from ac- searchers to test electronic methods ademia to entrepreneurship” to start for measuring the fat levels of each Local Ocean Seafoods, a wholesaler individual fish as it comes on the which buys directly from fishermen boat. and markets seafood across the Pa- “The new methods must be cific Northwest. Local Ocean packs Research by OSU graduate student Rosalee Rasmussen and others at the efficient,” notes Thompson. “Fisher- Oregon albacore and salmon under Seafood Laboratory in Astoria determined men just don’t have a lot of extra its own label, canned by small-scale that mercury levels in locally caught alba- core are much lower than in albacore caught time.” So Thompson’s team works canneries in Charleston, Oregon. and canned in the South Pacific. Photo, on board the fishing vessels to test “Bumblebee and Star-Kist steam Lynn Ketchum Some 40 tons of Pacific sardines were processed during one recent night at this cannery in Astoria, remindingn old-timers of the sardine boom of the 1930s. Photo, Lynn Ketchum. The Traceability Project makes it possible to tell where, when, how and by whom fish were caught Traceability Project, using comput- food-science colleagues at OSU are (above and below). Photos, Lynn Ketchum. erized barcodes to tag individual fish working with chefs to develop other as they are landed on-board the boat products from Oregon tuna. These and to track that fish through buy- include sushi-grade albacore belly, ers and processors all the way to the an oil-rich pâté marketed to Japa- consumer. Thompson is testing the nese sashimi brokers, and frozen tracking system this fall, hoping to albacore loin, distributed to many launch an easy-to-use database for West Coast markets through Eco- consumers by early next year. As Fish, an independent wholesaler of each fish is caught, a barcode tag is sustainable seafood. attached to its tail fin. Each barcode Similar initiatives for Oregon’s tag has a unique tracking number pink shrimp and Dungeness crab are linked to an online database that re- in the works. The CSI recently re- cords data as the fish journeys from ceived a grant of $80,000 to help see ocean to market. Different markets Oregon Dungeness crab through cer- and stakeholders will be able to tification as a sustainable fishery by enter the tracking number and find the independent Marine Stewardship information tailored to their needs: Council. Once certified, the crab where, when and how the fish was can bear the MSC label and claim a CSI’s database. caught; its size and fat content; even share of the value-added market for “Traceability is a guiding princi- if any unwanted fish were thrown sustainable foods. ple, part of our mission,” says Laura back as so-called bycatch. With the traceability database Anderson. “We want you to know as “We look at seafood traceabil- scheduled to go online in early much as you possibly can about the ity as a positive marketing tool for 2005, the CSI partners hope to see fish you eat. This connects every- fishermen,” says Morrissey. Because their work with albacore distin- one who buys a can of tuna to the of recent news about mercury-con- guish Oregon tuna in national and fisherman and to the ocean—to the taminated seafood, mad cow disease international markets. Local Ocean source of that fish in that can they’re and the potential for bioterrorism, Seafoods already uses the tracking holding in their hand.” government agencies and individual system for its canned salmon and consumers are paying more attention albacore. On every can, you’ll find to where food comes from. the name of the boat that caught the Besides the local canned alba- fish, the skipper’s name, and the core, Morrissey, Sylvia and their tracking number that will connect to From Oregon’s Agricultural Progress, Oregon State University, Fall 2004