Development of Novel Food Products with Improved Health Benefits from Seal Byproducts

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This proposal is to initiate collaboration between the applicant and the industrial partner, SeaDNA Canada Inc.**SeaDNA is engaged in processing and sale of seal meat products from seal discards and seeks the collaboration**to improve its existing food products and develop new ones for the Canadian functional food products market.**Seals are marine mammals that inhabit the northernmost Atlantic and Arctic Oceans. Parts of eastern Canada**used to boast a brisk and lucrative commercial seal industry in the early 1500s till the latter part of the 20th**century, when portrayal of the hunt as an "inhumane" practice by animal rights activists reached its peak.**Anti-sealing campaigns led to banning of seal imports from Canada by EU countries and Russia; causing dire**impacts on Canada's seal industry, in terms of loss of revenue and livelihood, and passing of strict government**rules to regulate the hunt. Nonetheless, the seal population has been exploding since the early 2000s, and the**herd size has been steady around 8 million animals. Seals feed on a variety of high-value fish species including**Atlantic cod, Greenland halibut, shrimps and prawns; and the booming herd is said to be contributing to the**recent depletion of cod stocks. Thus, putting seal discards to high-value use would alleviate animal rights**concerns, allow seal hunt to be restored in some form, protect fish stocks, sustain a culture, create jobs, and**protect the environment. The adult seal grows to 5.5-6.5 ft long and weighs 115-140 kg. This consists of 44%**carcass, 29% blubber, 18% viscera, and 8% pelt/skin. The pelt/skins are used as covering and leather products,**but the bulk of the animal is not widely consumed due to its dark color, rapid flavor deterioration, and a general**unawareness about its nutritive value. In Canada, common products derived from seal carcass include silage,**animal feed; and to a lesser extent, local foods such as flipper pies, seal jerky, and smoked seal meat.**Nonetheless, seal meat is lean (<3% fat); and rich in high quality proteins, n-3 PUFAs, MUFAs, minerals and**vitamins. Thus, new products can be produced from the discards for the Canadian functional foods sector; and**SeaDNA is dedicated to producing such health food products for the Canadian and international markets.