The Role of Fish Mince in Moulded Seafood Products

Fish mince may not be the most glamorous term in the seafood world, but it sits at the heart of a multi-billion dollar processed seafood industry. Formally defined as flesh separated from fish in a comminuted form – free from scales, skin, and bones – fish mince has become the essential raw material behind some of the most widely consumed seafood products globally. More importantly, it has unlocked economic value from fish that would otherwise be discarded, turning low-value catches and by-catch into nutritious, marketable food.

What exactly is fish mince? 🔗

Fish mince is defined as fish muscle that has been mechanically separated and chopped or ground, yielding a clean protein mass free from bones, skin, scales, and fins. Unlike hand-filleted fish, which leaves behind significant amounts of usable flesh on the frame and backbone, mechanical deboning extracts far more edible tissue per fish. According to the FAO, up to twice as much flesh can be recovered by mechanically separating flesh directly from headless gutted fish compared with filleting alone – and when fish are first filleted, an additional 8-12% of flesh can still be separated from the remaining filleting waste.

It is worth noting that the term “minced fish” is one of convenience rather than strict accuracy. Mincing occurs naturally during mechanical separation, not in the way it would if fish flesh were deliberately passed through a mincer. The result, however, is a fine, uniform paste-like material that retains most of the nutritional characteristics of the raw fish – including its full amino acid profile, polyunsaturated fatty acids, vitamins, and minerals.

How fish mince is produced 🔗

The production process begins with selecting and preparing the raw material. Fish are beheaded, gutted, and washed before being fed into a mechanical bone separator. This machine works by passing fish or fish pieces between a moving rubber belt and a rotating perforated stainless steel drum. The flesh is forced through the drum perforations and expelled as a coarse mince, while skin and bone are held back and removed by a scraper blade. The FAO notes that drum perforations are commonly 5 mm in diameter, though drums with smaller or larger holes are available to produce mince of different textures.

The quality of fish mince is directly tied to the freshness of the raw material. The FAO’s guidance on minced fish is clear: mince made from stale fish is poor regardless of which parts are used, and the product must be frozen as soon as it is made or incorporated into products and frozen within 4-5 hours of manufacture. Because mincing disrupts the cellular structure of the flesh and greatly increases the surface area exposed to oxygen and bacteria, shelf life is significantly shorter than that of whole fillets. Proper frozen storage, combined with appropriate additives such as antioxidants or cryoprotectants, is therefore critical.

Types of fish used 🔗

Most commercial fish mince is produced from gadoid species – cod, haddock, pollock, hake, and whiting – though a wide range of species are used globally. The Institute of Food Technologists (IFT) notes that mechanical deboners can process headed and gutted fish, fillet trimmings, or fish frames. In tropical and subtropical fisheries, species like threadfin bream, lizard fish, and horse mackerel are common inputs. What makes these species particularly suitable is their uniform muscle structure, relatively mild flavour, and the large quantities in which they are landed, ensuring consistent raw material supply for industrial processing.

The connection to by-catch and underutilized species 🔗

One of the most significant roles fish mince plays in the seafood industry is giving economic purpose to fish that would otherwise be wasted. When commercial fishing boats cast their nets, they inevitably bring up species beyond their target catch – this is by-catch. A review published in Critical Reviews in Food Science and Nutrition found that a large proportion of total landed fish remains unused due to inherent problems such as unattractive colour, small size, excessive bones, or high fat content. Most of these underutilized fish belong to the abundantly available pelagic species landed as by-catch. The review concluded that recovery of flesh by mechanical deboning and development of value-added products are among the most promising approaches to addressing post-harvest fishery losses.

Industry storage guidelines from the World Food Logistics Organization confirm that some companies specifically use underutilized fish species or fish that are too small or have too many bones for conventional processing techniques – and that fish flesh produced by mechanical deboning is nutritionally equivalent to that produced by conventional methods. Its low fat, high protein composition makes it as wholesome as beef, with the added benefit of a higher degree of unsaturation in its fats.

This is not just about reducing waste. IFT’s analysis of total fish utilization points out that by making previously unmarketable fish species commercially viable, mince production reduces pressure on popular fish stocks already experiencing overfishing – an important sustainability benefit as global fish stocks come under increasing strain.

Fish mince as the foundation of moulded seafood products 🔗

The real commercial power of fish mince lies in its versatility as a raw material for moulded seafood products. Because it is a uniform, bone-free paste, it can be shaped into virtually any form, seasoned, combined with binders and additives, and mass-produced continuously. The FAO highlights that mince lends itself to considerable modification of texture, flavour, and appearance through the addition of stabilizers and additives – giving manufacturers significant control over the final product.

Fish balls 🔗

Fish balls are among the most widely consumed moulded products made from fish mince, particularly across East and Southeast Asia. The mince is blended with seasonings and functional ingredients, shaped into spheres, and cooked by boiling, steaming, or frying. As documented by the seafood advocacy resource Fishful Future, fish balls made from mince are a staple food in Norway – known as fiskeboller – where they are traditionally served with boiled potatoes and cream sauce, demonstrating the product’s cross-cultural reach.

Fish cakes, cutlets, and patties 🔗

Fish cakes and patties combine fish mince with ingredients such as mashed potato, breadcrumbs, and spices, then form the mixture into flat shapes before shallow or deep frying. These products are popular across both domestic and export markets for their convenience and consistent texture. Fishful Future notes that fish mince is already widely present in the most familiar processed seafood products – including fish sticks, fish cakes, and nuggets – though consumers often do not recognise it as such.

Fish sausages and extruded products 🔗

Research published via ResearchGate confirms that fish mince isolated by mechanical deboning of discards – including filleting frames – can be used directly for sausages, noodles, preformed meatballs, patties, fermented products, and extruded products. Fish sausages, in particular, have gained popularity in Asian markets and are now expanding globally, combining the protein functionality of fish mince with familiar sausage formats.

Surimi: the advanced derivative 🔗

Fish mince also serves as the starting point for surimi – perhaps the most commercially significant moulded seafood product in the world. Surimi is produced by washing the mince through repeated cycles to remove sarcoplasmic proteins, fats, and odour compounds, then blending the concentrated myofibrillar proteins with cryoprotectants for frozen stability. ScienceDirect’s overview of minced fish notes that surimi is primarily manufactured from Alaska pollock and other gadoid fish minces, and that it forms the base material for a range of kamaboko-type products as well as the widely popular imitation crab meat found in sushi rolls and seafood salads worldwide.

Economic significance of fish mince production 🔗

The economic case for fish mince is compelling. By converting low-value catches and by-catch into high-value consumer products, the entire seafood supply chain benefits – from fishers at the point of landing to processors, exporters, and retail consumers. IFT’s research highlights that mincing operations typically generate only 20-30% waste – primarily bones, scales, and other truly inedible material – compared to the 50-70% waste common in traditional fish processing. This efficiency directly translates into lower costs and higher returns per kilogram of fish landed.

In developing and coastal economies where fishing is a major livelihood, fish mince production creates employment across multiple stages: fishing, pre-processing, mechanical deboning, product manufacture, packaging, and export. The ScienceDirect analysis of by-catch utilization underscores that the increasing recognition of the nutritional value of fish – combined with the development of new types of seafood products – has expanded the commercial utilization of species previously considered non-marketable.

Frozen fish mince is also an established international commodity. According to ScienceDirect, it is sold in standardized 16 kg blocks and used to manufacture fish sticks, fill spaces in frozen fillet blocks, and supply processors across the globe. This standardized trade format has helped integrate fish mince into international seafood supply chains, opening export markets in high-demand regions such as North America, Japan, and the European Union.

Quality considerations and challenges 🔗

Despite its advantages, fish mince presents specific quality challenges that processors must actively manage. Because mincing destroys the cellular structure of the flesh, oxidative rancidity and microbial spoilage accelerate significantly. The shelf life of minced fillets is typically about one-third that of whole frozen fillets, and mince recovered from frames spoils even faster.

For gadoid species in particular, IFT notes that mincing accelerates a textural defect – sometimes called “gadoid texture” – during frozen storage, caused by the breakdown of trimethylamine oxide (TMAO). This can cause the mince to become rubbery and unpalatable unless addressed through lower storage temperatures or the incorporation of starch-based stabilizers. Washing the mince and adding cryoprotectants such as sugar, sorbitol, and polyphosphates – effectively producing surimi – is the primary industrial solution.

There is also the matter of yield versus quality. Increasing belt tension in a bone separator raises yield but simultaneously introduces more bone fragments, skin pieces, and pigmented belly-wall material into the mince, reducing its grade. Processors must therefore calibrate the balance between maximum extraction and the quality standards required for their target product category.

Looking ahead: sustainability and product innovation 🔗

Fish mince production is increasingly recognised as a tool for sustainable fisheries management. By creating a viable market for underutilized and by-catch species, it reduces pressure on already-stressed popular fish stocks and improves the overall efficiency of marine resource use. Future directions for the industry, as outlined in research published by NOAA’s National Marine Fisheries Service, include improving the frozen storage stability of mince blocks, enhancing the texture of mince-based products to better match fillet products, and developing entirely new products that leverage the natural functional characteristics of minced fish – including hybrid products combining fish mince with plant or meat proteins.

As global food systems shift toward lower-waste, higher-efficiency models, fish mince stands out as a practical and already-proven ingredient that connects responsible fishing with affordable, nutritious, and diverse food products for consumers worldwide.

What do you think? Given that fish mince allows processors to fully utilize species that would otherwise be discarded, should more consumers and food manufacturers be encouraged to actively seek out mince-based seafood products as a sustainable choice? And with the ongoing pressure on global fish stocks, do you think the seafood industry is doing enough to develop commercial value from by-catch and underutilized species?

References

1. https://www.sciencedirect.com/topics/food-science/minced-fish
2. https://www.fao.org/4/x5950e/x5950e01.htm
3. https://www.ift.org/news-and-publications/food-technology-magazine/issues/2004/march/features/total-utilization-of-fish
4. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/8573282/
5. https://www.gcca.org/legacy-system/WFLO-Commodity-Storage-Manual-2018Fish_~_Comminuted,_Deboned_and_Minced%5B1%5D.pdf
6. https://www.fishfulfuture.com/blog/fish-mince
7. https://www.researchgate.net/publication/351934540_Value_added_products_from_underutilized_fish_species
8. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/B9781845690137500089
9. https://spo.nmfs.noaa.gov/sites/default/files/pdf-content/MFR/mfr394/mfr3941.pdf