For public aquariums, aquaculture, and feed suppliers

Every part of the squid has value.

Across 54 AZA aquariums and zoos, 55% of the seafood species fed to animals have an unknown sustainability status. Ours doesn't. One species, one MSC-certified fishery, one Rhode Island processor — whole, frozen once, and documented end to end.

Follow the process
Squid separated into two food-grade streams The mantle, arms, and tentacles move left as seafood products. The cleaned head and fins are highlighted in gold and move right as food-grade offcuts, fresh-frozen whole for feeding fish. SEAFOOD PRODUCTS MANTLE · TENTACLES · ARMS FOOD-GRADE OFFCUTS CLEANED HEAD · FINS FOOD-GRADE SQUID OFFCUTS CLEANED HEAD · FINS FRESH FROZEN FOR FEEDING FISH

One squid, two food-grade streams. Both leave whole.

The problem

Most feed can't prove where it came from.

AZA-accredited institutions buy an estimated 17 million pounds of seafood a year to feed the animals in their care. When 54 aquariums and zoos were assessed, more than half the species on their feed list could not be traced to a known standard.

55%
of seafood species fed at those 54 institutions have an unknown sustainability status — along with 25% of total volume by weight.
Staples are slipping
Capelin and herring carry most piscivore diets, and both have seen supply disruptions in recent years. Concentration is a nutritional and budget risk, which is why AZA guidance recommends at least three seafood types per animal — four or five where possible.
Paperwork you can't complete
Sourcing policies ask for species, scientific name, catch location, gear type, and certification status. Vague catch locations and mismatched dates are named indicators of seafood fraud — and are common in feed-grade supply chains.

Figures from Sourcing Sustainable Seafood Feed for Animals in Our Care, Aquarium Conservation Partnership and AZA SAFE Shark and Ray.

What we sell

Two streams off one food-grade line.

The seafood product stream and the offcut stream begin with the same food-grade raw material. What changes is where each portion goes next.

01

Food-grade offcut stream

Frozen whole for feeding fish

Cleaned heads and fins are kept separate, fresh-frozen whole, and boxed as feed for aquarium and aquaculture fish.

Cleaned heads Fins Fresh frozen
02

Seafood product stream

Cleaned for market

Our processor partner cleans and prepares the mantle, arms, and tentacles as familiar seafood products.

Cleaned tubes Squid rings Tentacles

Why it feeds better

Whole squid, at food grade, because of where it comes from.

Most marine feed reaches you already processed — milled into meal, bound into pellets, or rendered. These heads and fins are separated on a line producing squid for human consumption, then frozen fresh. Squid is landed in season and held in cold storage, so supply continues between seasons.

Frozen once
Caught, processed, and frozen fresh — never thawed and refrozen.
MSC-certified fishery
Certified sustainable at the source, by third-party audit.
No added fishing pressure
A co-product of squid already landed for human food — feeding your fish takes nothing extra out of the water.
Food-grade throughout
Single species, consistent size, never rendered.

Ask us for current pack formats, volumes, and lead times.

Separated At source, on a human-food line
Frozen Whole and fresh — never milled
Shipped Boxed, to you

Rhode Island partnership

Processing knowledge meets marine science.

Processor partner

Rhode Island Seafood Processors

Food-grade squid processing and separation of the material at its source.

Collection and cold chain

Offcut Marine

Collects, freezes, and ships the food-grade offcut stream. Partners on research into future uses.

The evidence

Already being fed to fish, under measurement.

These offcuts are in active feeding trials at the Roger Williams University Center for Economic and Environmental Development (CEED) — currently with sea bass, scup, and flounder. The work measures composition, palatability, growth and health, so that claims about this feed rest on data rather than on provenance alone.

Trials are ongoing and results are not yet final. We would rather show you the numbers when they are complete than characterise them early — if you want to see the data as it comes out, ask and we will send it.

  1. 01

    Characterize

    Nutritional composition and raw-material consistency

  2. 02

    Stabilize

    Handling, storage, and cold-chain consistency

  3. 03

    Feed

    Live trials with sea bass, scup, and flounder

  4. 04

    Measure

    Palatability, growth, and fish health

Work with us

Tell us what you feed.

We welcome conversations with public aquariums, aquaculture producers, and the suppliers who source their feed — as well as researchers and potential partners.

Prefer email? Write to contact@offcutmarine.com.