The fish processing industry is still far from the levels of scientific and technological development that characterize other food processing oper ations. It has also been slow in finding uses for by-products and processing wastes, compared with the meat and poultry industries. The utilization of fisheries by-products or wastes constitutes an area in which the application of modern techniques could potentially improve profitability. At present, increased attention is being focused on the application of new biotechnological methods to operations related to the seafood industry, with the objective of increasing its general efficiency. Because fish processing operations are commonly carried out in the vicinity of the sea, most of the resulting fish wastes have been disposed of by returning them to it. Pollution control measures and a better understanding of the valuable composition of the products extracted from the sea are expected to encourage their recovery and the develop ment of new products from them. In the past, fisheries wastes and species not used for food have been generally utilized through techno logical processes with a low level of sophistication, such as those for the production of animal feed and fertilizer. Limited economic success has accompanied the application of physi cal and chemical processes for the recovery of non-utilized fisheries biomass and for the production of quality products from them."

By covering both the general principles of bioconversion and the specific characteristics of the main groups of waste materials amenable to bioconversion methods, this new book provides the chemical, biochemical, agrochemical and process engineer with clear guidance on the use of these methods in devising a solution to the problem of industrial waste products.

The cumulative effects of pollution have led, in recent years, to increased public concern, which is resulting in stricter legislation on the discharge of wastes in whatever state they are present: gaseous, liquid or solid. The treatment and disposal of wastes has become one of the most important problems facing mankind. This is a problem which will not disappear, and could even worsen, if it is not faced with resolution by all the main parties involved: consumers, governments, producers and scientists. Some wastes could be reused, producing some economic return which could pay for the waste-treatment process. In the best of cases, this could become an economically attractive recycling operation. However, in many situations, waste treatment is considered to be an unproductive process which entails additional costs to an otherwise productive operation. Methods for the removal and purification of wastes (including those considered to be 'toxic wastes', the most dreaded form of pollution), if developed at all, suffer from serious limitations. Two of these are the high energy input into the process and, after the contaminants have been removed, the lingering problem of what to do with them, as they will then exist as some kind of concentrate. The ideal solution is none other than a natural, biological process to degrade wastes. Fortunately, mankind is increasingly choosing that option, as exemplified by the general acceptance of the role of biotechnology in modern society.

By covering both the general principles of bioconversion and the specific characteristics of the main groups of waste materials amenable to bioconversion methods, this new book provides the chemical, biochemical, agrochemical and process engineer with clear guidance on the use of these methods in devising a solution to the problem of industrial waste products.

The fish processing industry is still far from the levels of scientific and technological development that characterize other food processing oper ations. It has also been slow in finding uses for by-products and processing wastes, compared with the meat and poultry industries. The utilization of fisheries by-products or wastes constitutes an area in which the application of modern techniques could potentially improve profitability. At present, increased attention is being focused on the application of new biotechnological methods to operations related to the seafood industry, with the objective of increasing its general efficiency. Because fish processing operations are commonly carried out in the vicinity of the sea, most of the resulting fish wastes have been disposed of by returning them to it. Pollution control measures and a better understanding of the valuable composition of the products extracted from the sea are expected to encourage their recovery and the develop ment of new products from them. In the past, fisheries wastes and species not used for food have been generally utilized through techno logical processes with a low level of sophistication, such as those for the production of animal feed and fertilizer. Limited economic success has accompanied the application of physi cal and chemical processes for the recovery of non-utilized fisheries biomass and for the production of quality products from them."

Proceedings of a 2006 conference held in Madriad. The 11 papers explore aspects of the archaeology of death and burial in Late Antiquity and the early Middle Ages focusing on the Iberian Peninsula and on Christian sites. Essays in Spanish, with one in French and one in English.

21 papers delivered at a conference in Madrid in 2006 which look at various aspects of the archaeology of early medieval monasticism. The essays focus as one might expect on monasteries in Spain. Essays mostly in Spanish with some in French and Italian.

Fifteen papers from a conference held in Madrid in 2005 on the subject of Gaul and Spain from the 5th to 7th century AD, looking especially at evidence for the migration and influence of various cultural groups across Europe. The contributors examine the problems within this subject, especially interpreting the material culture evidence, and go on to look in more detail at funerary assemblages in both Gaul and Spain for evidence of the presence and influence of other cultures at the time of the disintegration of the Roman Empire. Text in Spanish, French and German.