The first International Seafood Byproducts Conference was held in Anchorage from April 25 to 27, 1990, over 12 years ago. Many predictions made then have proved accurate, but many problems identified then still await solutions. Problems were opportunities then and that is even more true today. New concerns have arisen, or old ones have returned. New key words that were little used in 1990 are now commonplace.The world seafood industry is still producing large quantities of "waste," which I prefer to call secondary process streams, and which can take many forms. Except for whole frozen round fish, which is mainly produced by very large freezer trawlers, all fish processing operations produce "waste" or offal, as secondary process streams. The highest proportion of fish "waste" consists of heads, tails, viscera, and backbones from filleting operations. As the industry moves toward more "valueadded" products, which require skinless, boneless fillets, additional waste is produced. When these two streams separate, they are of equal quality-that is, they are at the level of freshness suitable for human consumption. Some "waste" products can have a very high value if they can be separated economically. Many people have tried halibut cheeks or-the Newfoundland delicacy-cod tongues. White fish "v" cuts can be made into high quality minced fish with deboning equipment. Some consumer studies have shown that children tend to prefer fish sticks (fish fingers, as the Europeans call them) made from mince, to those from whole fillets.The great bulk of fish processing waste, which can amount to over 60% of landed weight, leaves the human consumption stream at equivalent freshness, and is ideal raw material for the highest quality fish meal and fish oil, if the economics and logistics are right. If they are not, there are other profitable approaches.One of the new key words I referred to is "organic"; another is "sustainable." There are many different definitions of "organic," but the Soil