How "krab" is made from Pacific Whiting | Oregon Field Guide

In the 1990s, a successful fishery developed around a once-undesirable fish, the Pacific whiting. Follow the production of “imitation crab” off the coast of Newport, Oregon, from the ocean to the grocery store.
This “Oregon Field Guide” story premiered on Feb. 1, 1996.
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#krab PacificWhiting #fishery #imitationcrab #oregonfieldguide #OPB #Oregon #PacificNorthWest

[@TestUser-cf4wj]

I love immitation crab. The taste and texture are totally different than genuine crab but it's still tasty.

[@outdoorloser4340]

Have you ever tried some Japanese brands? It's almost better than fresh dungeness, lol.

[@TestUser-cf4wj]

@@outdoorloser4340 Fresh dungeness is almost more about the experience than the taste. Going to the coast, putting the traps in the water, measuring each maybe keeper and then throwing them back, finding the one or two that are big enough, boiling them in seawater right on the beach, cleaning and rinsing them in seawater, getting all the meat out of the shell and into an empty beer can with the top cut off full of melted butter and having a great time with all of my friends. Of it wasn't for the experience of going crabbing, if I had to buy crab from the market, I probably would never eat crab again. Woe to the poor souls too far from the coast to enjoy a day crabbing! I'll see what my local Asian market has for imitation krab. Thanks for the tip!

[@NateJones-tk9fb]

Me too I dont care if it's imitation I love it.

[@takotako808]

@@NateJones-tk9fb mayo , Sriracha and imitation crab 😍. I also add green onions and fish cake

[@oregonpatriot1570]

@@outdoorloser4340 Better than Dungeness? I doubt that!

[@NoahSpurrier]

I like imitation crab. I don’t think of it like crab. It isn’t crab. It’s really it’s own thing.

[@BruceAlarie]

theres crab in it

[@TestUser-cf4wj]

I agree. Not crab. Not even "imitation" crab. A unique and delicious seafood product.

[@BELCAN57]

"Krab"

[@jondoh3471]

Mmmm... I love crabs!!! Whoo!

[@jamiegallier2106]

This looks and feels like it was filmed in the 80’s, lol.

[@santoast24]

Early 90's, so ya basically

[@thePrisoner1000]

It said this show in the notes premiered in Feb, 1996

[@Realist-ist]

90s

[@raul0ca]

Leather Members Only jacket!

[@SgtJohnRemairez]

Yeah...United States looks beatiful back then without all the infrastructure. I doubt that shot of the Compost Farm still looks like that today...

[@nancychace8619]

The "imitation crab" is good. When I saw the vast amounts of waste, I thought compost to reforest areas damaged by wildfire - Thanks for sharing.

[@BornIn1500]

forests that have a fire go through are far from damaged. There is tons of carbon from burned material that makes great fertile ground for new growth. Fire is a very natural thing and even vital to some ecosystems.

[@PM_82]

@@BornIn1500 Correct, woodash is a very good fertilizer.

[@niuean3000]

Nature does not need human intervention

[@markg1490]

Had no idea how those krab legs were made. I love eating them with cocktail sauce.

[@jesseyoung4295]

I graduated Highschool from Newport High in 95. Worked at a cafe across the street from where the boats brought the whiting in. I recognized the buildingb with it's mural of Keiko the whale.

[@z71chev34]

didnt expect to see an Atlanta Braves ball cap when i started this video. hell yeah go braves!

[@wanderlustspirit4607]

Wait a minute so they have so much waste they don’t know what to do with it, but they want them to increase the limit of how much they can catch. How’s that math mathing?

[@Dubngrub]

They don't care about anything but money that's what's up.

[@matttroy640]

The waste is the byproduct of the fish that is not useable. For example the entrails or other unwanted parts. Not the filets of the fish. Not all components of the fish are usable, and thus these scraps are discarded into waste.

[@lokidude100]

Another smoothbrain take accelerated to the top comments.

[@OffGridInvestor]

Probably a high percentage of what they catch is unusable and rejected. Kinda makes it all seem pointless but if there's a huge supply that's cheap, I suppose it works out economically

[@garettanderson6772]

@@lokidude100 Those smooth brains just elected Trump today.

[@jstewlly4747]

That was awesome the mechanical monitor looking at seas floor was so cool and yes this was effective I see

[@johncordova8304]

Soilent green, will be made using similar techniques.

[@ROGER2095]

With this operation, 20% goes to soylent green, 80% goes to compost. So at best, I'll enter the next phase of my life as a vegetable - the same way I'm leaving the current phase!

[@napalmholocaust9093]

Fish in compost isn't unique, natives have putting fish under corn for thousands of years.

[@aaroncapricorn5867]

bears do it all the time naturally with salmon. they eat most of the fish and the guts just sit there on the side feeding the trees, the side of the river, the river

[@BornIn1500]

@@aaroncapricorn5867 more like the bears just eat the guts and leave the rest of the fish. Bears literally only tear the belly out because it has the most nutrition and fat. The meat isn't as nutritious to them.

[@oregonpatriot1570]

And that's *EXACTLY* where this stuff belongs!

[@BONECRUSHER41599]

That fishery is one of the reasons why salmon production in California Washington in Oregon is low thereby catch on salmon is ridiculous and when they’ve caught the quota for their limit of buy catch for salmon they just increase it so they can keep fishing it’s ridiculous

[@NathanHarrison7]

Awesome documentary. Thank you so much for sharing.

[@alyssa0411]

I think it’s time for OPB to update their program. I’m sure a lot has changed in the last 25-30 years since this was filmed.

[@permiebird937]

This looks and sounds like a report from the 90s.

[@matthewwelsh294]

This “Oregon Field Guide” story premiered on Feb. 1, 1996

[@rontakayama6379]

Thanks I will never eat immatation crab again! ☺️😁👍🤙

[@leifkemp]

Honestly, I knew it was mashed-up fish, & this video made me feel a whole lot better about it! It could also be a combination of my learning how good fish is in making great soil, & seeing what the fish actually is & how it's processed.

[@jerseyjoe82364]

They are very good value and "popular" with my dog, she loves them!

[@madtownangler]

I remember working a slime line for salmon back in 1991. Every single fish had to be cleaned by hand then shipped to our main plant and cleaned even more by the people there. Looks much easier to clean these fish by machine.

[@gustavbloom7768]

I have asked several Subway employees about this what is artificial Krab , nice to get an answer.

[@alyssa0411]

Do you think some high schooler making minimum wage slapping turkey on bread knows what imitation crab is?

[@gustavbloom7768]

It’s not random, it’s on the menu. But no, and after seeing this video the answer would be longer then I expected.

[@fermiticus4034]

@@alyssa0411 I did...30+ years ago! (I was just out of HS then).

[@TheSonshade]

I have easy access to crab andI still like it.

[@dwaynekoblitz6032]

Really fantastic.

[@beatpirate8]

yes compost! i put fish parts in my yard as well! its good for the soil

[@u.s.militia7682]

I used to help process surimi in Dutch Harbor Alaska. It’s an interesting and clean process from start to finish.

[@Generic321]

General AI will treat humans the same way we treat animals.

[@riproar11]

I remember trying imitation krab in the mid-1980s and liked it right away. 1980s krab had a lot of flavor and by the late 1990s I noticed that brands like TransOcean tasted really bland, but Louis Kemp still had decent flavor. Now they are all bland, so it appears they cut back on the real crab flavoring because it must be the costliest ingredient.

[@peterbird3932]

Mmmm...Made me hungry for some Khlav Kalash and Crab Juice.

[@josephkaple8923]

I always thought it was called Trash because it came from the far left city Portland.

[@kpnitrl38]

Great content. Though I wonder where Hake is today regarding it's demand.

[@stevegabbert9626]

Sauteing it in butter is fantastic.

[@hongo3870]

Love a krab salad sandwich with tomato and lettuce

[@germany456]

Crazy how the technology is much better, that paper thing was so funny, reminds me of those up and down brain scans

[@intheshell35ify]

Mix it with cream cheese, a little dill, and fresh lemon juice and you got a good crab dip. Some people like a little horseradish in it as well.

[@lancelotisupnext3623]

Where should one look for follow up information since this video came out in '96?

[@AerialEscape]

Cancer doctors...

[@AxoBnB]

From a 2023 article about Oregon fisheries called "Let Them Eat Hake" -- "...Commercial fishers landed about 287 million pounds of fish and shellfish in Oregon in 2022, roughly 68 pounds per Oregonian. Nearly 60% of this volume consisted of pacific whiting, also known as hake, which is mostly used to make surimi." So by volume, whiting has become the most-caught seafood product in Oregon. But dollar-wise, Dungeness crab was -- and still is -- the most valuable.

[@AerialEscape]

Mmm trailer park sushi

[@basedocean5262]

These previously used methods are from when we were living the good old days days. Who knows how much waste or what substitutes have already been used

[@zoltankaparthy9095]

Hake/Whiting/Pollock is a low nutrition trash fish. Is it made nutritious in surimi? Or is it still a low nutrition fish in the surimi state?

[@pep2001bg]

when was this filmed??

[@CC-uq4hu]

I never trusted this fake crab…glad I never ate it

[@KB-313]

neat!

[@MRMORGAN817]

What are the Whiting stocks like these days?

[@teddyhansen9178]

why are the waste not used for making biogas. In Denmark we use most waste in biogas facilities

[@davidh5276]

🤯how can I bring the whiting industry to my city?

[@johnyblandofoz952]

THATS A LOT OF FISH IN ONE SCOOP... WOW... AND PRECISE NETTING SKILLS... WELL DONE TEAM... PLEASE KEEPEM COMMIN... WE ARE ALL WITH YOU...

[@davidwilson4735]

I personally worked at a company that made this product in salem Oregon i never ate that product again only real crab for me

[@user-po7iv4ni3o]

Ahh the white slime.

[@Naturallystated]

mmmmm1 Tasty slime!

[@beatpirate8]

wow i never knew i thought it was cuttlefish maybe

[@marbleman52]

Mr. Krab, from Sponge Bob, is gonna get mad that his secret ingredient for his Krabby Patties has been leaked...!!! I see a lawsuit coming..!!

[@Sigurther]

(fish being processed) "MY LEG!!! MY EYES!!!"

[@drmodestoesq]

I"ve only watched a few minutes of the show with my niece. How does that Sponge guy have a grill at the bottom of the ocean? Wouldn't the fire go out?

[@tubecated_development]

I love the bycatch. It’s a shame it gets wasted.

[@davidb2206]

Any ocean fish today put into compost is going to have MERCURY in it.

[@HUNGRYDOGPRODUCTIONS]

Yum yum yum

[@walterwhitaker1395]

How often do the fish spawn?

[@bailey1000100]

they live for 13 -15 years and are sexually mature at 3-4 years old.

[@FusionDeveloper]

Black soldier fly larvae, I'm sure, would eat up the fish waste, then you would be left with just skin and bones and larvae waste and have live larvae as a sellable product. The only thing, it seems like feeding meat to the larvae causes their water to stink, but it might be because I kept it too wet, I'm not sure.

[@Naturallystated]

...and then use the soldier fly larvae to make the surimi! Sorry my little backyard hens no more bugs for you! That'll teach you for trying to steal my ice cream cone! True story.

[@pamelanadel3787]

I would be afraid to eat anything out of Oregon or Washington. They have thrown standards down the toilet.

[@1BigMistakee]

I just spent 8 hours on a party boat to catch a lousy 5 hake. I wonder why...

[@im.charles]

What is this? "Seafood extender"? I thought that was crab meat. That looks like it would go well in a soup or hotpot dish 😅

[@Bill-cv1xu]

No thanks 😅

[@DM-wp9vq]

From February 1st in 96'. Two months after that wicked storm smacked right into us in Newport (December 95') and right around the time where we had some crazy heavy rainfall. A friend and I were riding our bikes at "Big Creek Park", down by the reservoir and most of it was flooded up to 2' and even deeper in the creek. Had to pull the bike and swim out of it if you went in. I passed out watching another video and woke up to the Yaquina ay Bridge on the screen.

[@jesseyoung4295]

Graduated from Newport High in 95

[@OffGridInvestor]

That waste would be GREAT as tinned cat food or dog food. Can't see why that wasn't immediately logical. Or even frozen bait

[@guysmithson1835]

Not long before the ocean will be like man make lake and will have to stock it

[@raclark2730]

Most countries have harvest limits based on scientific research in regards to each particular species. Only certain countries still engage in unsustainable practice. Take a guess on the main offender.

[@A3Kr0n]

My cats won't touch it, which says something since tuna is their favorite food.

[@T.Watts89]

Well it's not tuna genius

[@nibornnyw3185]

They wash all the fat and flavor out.

[@annunacky4463]

I think it’s krap…course I live on Gulf Coast and we have fresh blue crab…

[@outdoorloser4340]

Fresh dungeness crab makes blue crab taste like crawfish! 😂

[@guyquinton2413]

Chemical shitstorm

[@martinginsburg7222]

Great, until man adds in the chemical soup! Commonly adding sugar &/or artificial sweetener sorbitol, food coloring, vegetable oils, even MSG. It is nutritional deficient as compared to crab. Bottom line, it's highly processed. My Bottom Line: NO THANKS! But so appreciate OPB's informative videos!

[@ottoosmers9273]

Right on

[@ROGER2095]

I love processed food! "You are what you eat." That makes me well preserved.

[@ChadwickHorn]

Oh no... *not* MSG! 😲🙄

[@thePrisoner1000]

@@ChadwickHorn Many people are allergic to it.

[@fakename6658]

@@thePrisoner1000 if 1 in 10 000 is many, then yeah sure.

[@eduardocontreras7115]

They need to leave that fish alone already

[@deanmerchant203]

Barf!

[@alanmalaquias596]

We as human beens, are became the kings of take others animals life😥!

[@raclark2730]

Predation is a fact of nature.

[@jackstone4291]

Not crab. It’s fish … with some crustacean added ….

[@keester_1580]

WHAT ARE THE COST TO ENVIROMENT FROM THE CHEMICALS USED THEN BURIED TO CREATE RICH SOIL???? WHERE ARE THE STUDIES PERFOMED TO READ UP ON THE THE EXTENT ON THE ENVIROMENT ETC........ QUESTIONS THAT ARE HARD TOO FIND LET ALONE IF DONE. JUST A CURIOUS HUMAN WITH THOUGHT THAT NEVER SEEMS TO BE ANSWERED!!!!

[@AxoBnB]

What chemicals are you talking about? In this story, the blood and guts that got sent to the compost place were separated out early in the process, before anything was added to the fish. So that waste is "chemical-free." I'll bet the same is true for the sawdust and bark chips that were mixed-in to make compost. No one wants harmful substances in the soil, but I don't think that is happening here.

[@Olddude888]

I see this and still eat them. Not proud of it, but I do.

[@rufiorufioo]

Always liked the imitation crab meat. I tell my wife it's just fish. There is a stigma about the stuff being made bad quality.

[@aleksanderkuncwicz7277]

I thought imitation crab was made from pollock fish?

[@Jmjmjmjmjmjmjmjmjmjmjm1]

My bones are so brittle. I don’t understand why. I drink plenty of malk. Wait a minute. What the heck is malk?!

[@kimloonyong6599]

Processed food.

[@kaioser]

Lol krabmeat

[@jackgreenhalgh7664]

This is everything wrong with how humanity sees and exploits nature

[@CC-uq4hu]

Raping the seas😢

[@ROGER2095]

There are over 8,000,000,000 humans on Earth today, and they're all hungry. What's the right way for humanity to see and exploit nature?

[@jackgreenhalgh7664]

sustainably@@ROGER2095

[@bailey1000100]

Surimi is another good protein to help feed the people. People complaining about exploiting nature. When you realize that just the Pacific Ocean alone is 64,000,000. square miles, that's (64 million) sq. miles, it makes you realize how big that area is for man to pull food out of .We do over fish some species of fish but only when they are closer to home. We are just a dot in the big picture.

[@aaroncapricorn5867]

boy if only internet was around during the fur trade years. you'd have something to say then wouldn't you? i'm talking 17th, 18th, 19th centuries

[@ArfArfBarkBark]

Great production value if this was 1978.

[@eduardocontreras7115]

It's not good for you trust me you see how they don't show you how they make it

[@PeterTissot-cx7qd]

you forgot to mention the influencers that change peoples stupid minds. I cant believe it is not crab!

[@younggunz20]

Trawling needs to end.

[@raclark2730]

Why most nations have catch limits based on scientific study. If they don't do it people with no such care will step in. Its about standards not all fishing.

[@MikeOxlong-]

Deeeeeescusteeng!

[@misslissa7336]

His name is ‘Gil’ 🤣🤣🤣

[@ntsejfamyaj]

Guy should have dumped all his whiting hake and bought AMZN stock.

[@BioHazardCL4]

Look at the slaughter of the fish after they've fished everything else and turned it onto processed food....

[@larrysorenson4789]

I’m going vegan.

[@vladimus9749]

A better time when Oregon was about innovation and industry, not regressive politics.

[@joec9553]

No gracias....

[@user-mp7hj8lz1b]

ok you work out how to use it. now work out how to make it taste like crab. This should be called something else, taste nothing like crab meat. And no it is not all that great, its just ok.

[@oregonpatriot1570]

Exactly! Using different chemicals and flavorings they claim (and label) it to mimic crab and lobster, but it tastes nothing like either one no matter what they do to it. The only way I find it even slightly palatable is hidden in a salad mixture.

[@Naturallystated]

So.. they are harvesting too much fish and so they have to give away overstock to composters, What is the solution? WE NEED TO HARVEST MORE FISH!! Now don't get me wrong, I love surimi and eat it almost everyday, but the solution to over-fishing is more fishing??????? Let me wax eloquent for a moment...WTF!!!!!

[@PB-jk8bl]

So why are we making an artificial product out of trash fish? Why not just leave it be and eat real crab?

[@edbrown6985]

Humans find a way to eat anything alive.now its hard to get real crab or lobater in Chinese food because its all this surimi crap.

[@oregonpatriot1570]

This stuff is *GARBAGE!* I'm fortunate enough to live in the Pacific NW where *REAL* crab is plentiful. _More expensive? Yes. But I don't care. I don't eat it everyday, and I refuse to eat trash when good food is available._

[@Farmgoth]

Yuck

[@WWCephas]

Fake krab is so bad for you.

[@geedee2420]

Oregon has recently put forth some anti-gardening and anti-farming legislation that so negatively impacts these groups that there may soon be no need for the composting aspect of the whiting industry. These new regulations would definitely contribute to global warming.

[@nibornnyw3185]

Digging in the earth and husbanding growing plants is a human right.

[@geedee2420]

@@nibornnyw3185 ... A human right that the MARXIST Democratic Party has no problem depriving you of.

[@SongJLikes]

Fish are gross

[@robertkattner1997]

Made from Pollock, cheap fish.

[@Farmgoth]

Gross

[@tylercurtiss1351]

You have one job. And that's to read the paper out loud in front of you and I can barely understand you. Can't finish watching this.

[@DM-wp9vq]

You need to get your hearing checked fool. I understood every single word. Plus, this has been digitized from a VHS that's 28 years old. Pay attention, you might learn something.

[@TestUser-cf4wj]

Have you tried learning English?

[@Andy-zj3dc]

wasn't fake crab made from Pollock?

[@FatHalibutz32]

Yes! It can be from a few ground fish. Haddock, pollock, hake, pacific cod... all "similiar" quality fish for mass produced fish sandwiches/fish sticks n what not

[@blanksender7808]

Totally sustainable. LOL