Prairie Lands Seafood
Pinckneyville, Illinois
Brent Engel
Southern Illinois University, Carbondale
The Illinois Fish Farmers Co-Op was created in 1999 with the purpose of
developing the fish farming and aquaculture industry in the state of Illinois.
The Co-Op consists of approximately 50 fish farmers in the area that raise
and sell their product to Prairie Lands Seafood Processing Center in Pinckneyville,
IL. Prairie Lands Seafood has the ability to process 12 million pounds of
fish annually for sale to the public and by private contract.
Processing of live fish at this facility produces a large volume of inedible
fish waste, or offal, which accounts for 2/3 of the live weight of the fish.
Processing also consumes a great deal of water and requires significant
energy consumption for processing and temperature control of the products.
Goals for the intern included the investigation and reduction of odors,
fish offal disposal, reduction in water usage, and energy efficiency.
Results:
The intern suggested increased training for the employees in both water
conservation and energy efficiency. Additionally, the intern provided
recommendations leading to reduced odor generation and savings of $38,000
annually including:
- Minimizing odors by regular cleaning of the vacuum system,
repairing the lagoon cover, and immediate cleaning of offal totes upon
loading into
trailer-trucks.
- Retrofitting the exit signs with the LED energy saving bulbs
to yield a yearling savings nearly $1,700.
- Repairing security lamp light sensors to facility automatic
shutdown during daylight hours and de-lamp the front parking lot for
a combined annual
savings near $4,000.
- Utilizing fish offal as a source of organic fertilizer to
save over $33,000 per year in disposal costs.
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