Glouchester, Maine-Neptune’s Harvest, which produces liquid fertilizer from discarded fish parts, is completing installation – at a cost of $500,000 – of four 30,000-gallon storage tanks, which will increase capacity to 150,000 gallons. “The business is expanding so much, we needed more storage capacity,” reported Sales Director Ann Molloy. “We are doubling in size every year.” She credits the growth to word of mouth that the product works for the main users, which include hay and pasture farmers along with field crops and vegetable growers. Molloy claims these users are producing the likes of a 6-pound sweet potato and 17-pound cabbages, and last year a record-size pumpkin weighing 1,700 pounds with the 2-4-1 formulation, which also contains micronutrients, vitamins, minerals and other ingredients derived from the mineral-rich fishing waters. She said the process starts with the heads, skeletons, scales, and fins, called “gurry” that used to be taken out and dumped at sea. What actually amounts to 70 percent of the fish after filleting is liquefied and stabilized in a grinder the same day while it’s still fresh, and then passed through 150 micron filters to eliminate the bigger bones that didn’t get dissolved in the grinder. “It comes out looking like chocolate,” Molloy explained, “and has an indefinite shelf life that allows farmers to just mix with water before applying.” Neptune’s Harvest was started in 1986 by long-time Gloucester fish wholesaler Ocean Crest Seafood, which, along with the state of Massachusetts and its local universities, developed the process with an eye toward turning an environmental hazard into an environmental benefit. From a small part of the Ocean Crest operation, Neptune’s Harvest now accounts for more than half of the parent company’s business, Molloy said, at a time when uncertain fish stocks and federal regulations threaten the traditional industry.
Transparency Across the Fertilizer Value-Chain