Capture-based aquaculture of Atlantic cod (Gadus morhua L.) in Greenland – Sustainable distribution of superchilled, frozen and refreshed products

• Main Author: Sørensen, Jonas Steenholdt
• Format: Book
• Language: English
• Published: Technical University of Denmark 2020
• Subjects: /dk/atira/pure/sustainabledevelopmentgoals/zero_hunger; name=SDG 2 - Zero Hunger; Greenland; Norway; atlantic cod; Gadus morhua; greenlandic
• Online Access: https://orbit.dtu.dk/en/publications/cc5a3772-35cf-4922-aee0-59907f57be3f; https://backend.orbit.dtu.dk/ws/files/217583783/Binder_thesis.pdf

Atlantic cod (Gadus morhua L.) has for centuries been an important species for the Greenlandic fisheries, and traditionally the value-added process has contributed to a large numbers of local jobs. In the period following the last major cod fisheries around 1990 in Greenlandic waters, the value-added processing was reduced and almost exclusively focused on headed and gutted whole cod, which were frozen in blocks and shipped to China for further processing. This was a consequence of cheaper labour in China and low sales prices for cod products in the primary markets in Europe. To optimise product quality and restore local workplaces, Royal Greenland has chosen to rethink the entire catch and value-added processing for cod in Greenland. This has been done with some inspiration from the salmon farming industry in Norway. The new process is referred to as Nutaaq® ("the new" in Greenlandic) and can best be described as capture-based aquaculture, where the cod are caught in the Greenlandic fjords, transferred to net cages where they are stored for two to four weeks without feeding. After this starvation period, the cod are transported by well boats to a processing plant, where the cod are slaughtered, filleted and either frozen or distributed fresh. The purpose of this PhD project has been to investigate whether the new production method for cod in Greenland can contribute to increased food quality, longer shelf-life and reduced food waste and losses? The significance of the changed production method was investigated in a study where the difference between traditionally caught and processed cod was compared with capture-based aquaculture produced cod during a frozen storage at -20 ° C. Further, the effect of frozen storage at -20, -40, and -80 °C was investigated for cod produced using capture-based aquaculture. After a freezing period of three, six, nine and twelve months, respectively, cod fillets from each of the two production methods were examined using hyperspectral images to determine colour and blood ...