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Reference · R1
Trilingual glossary
The trade's working vocabulary in English, Spanish and Chinese — the three languages of the fishmeal chain from Peru to China.
Spanish is the language of the producing coast (harina de pescado in every Peruvian customs document); Chinese is the language of the largest importing market; English is the contract language in between. The table below collects thirty terms that appear on specifications, contracts and trade correspondence.
| English | Español | 中文 | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| Fishmeal | Harina de pescado | 鱼粉 | Ground, dried protein product made from whole fish or fish trimmings, used mainly in animal and aquaculture feed. |
| Fish oil | Aceite de pescado | 鱼油 | Co-product of fishmeal production, pressed and separated from cooked fish; used in feed and omega-3 refining. |
| Whole fish | Pescado entero | 全鱼 | Fish landed and processed whole, as opposed to by-products from processing plants. |
| By-product meal | Harina de subproductos | 副产品鱼粉 | Fishmeal made from trimmings, frames and offcuts of food-fish processing. |
| Anchoveta | Anchoveta | 秘鲁鳀 | Engraulis ringens, the Peruvian anchovy; the single most important raw-material species in global fishmeal. |
| Wet pressing | Prensado en húmedo | 湿法压榨 | The dominant production method: cook, press, separate the press liquor, dry and mill. |
| Press cake | Torta de prensado | 压榨饼 | Solid fraction remaining after pressing cooked fish; dried and milled into fishmeal. |
| Press liquor | Licor de prensado | 压榨液 | Liquid pressed out of cooked fish; separated into oil, stickwater and sludge. |
| Stickwater | Agua de cola | 鱼溶浆 | The aqueous fraction of press liquor; concentrated by evaporation and often added back to the meal. |
| Crude protein | Proteína bruta | 粗蛋白 | Headline quality measure of fishmeal; quality meal typically 60-68%, premium grades higher. |
| TVN / TVBN | Nitrógeno volátil total | 挥发性盐基氮 | Total volatile nitrogen; measures protein breakdown from microbial activity. Premium caps near 60 mg N/100 g. |
| Histamine | Histamina | 组胺 | Biogenic amine indicating spoilage of dark-meat species; graded limits apply in specifications. |
| Ash | Ceniza | 灰分 | Inorganic residue after combustion; high ash signals more bone, less flesh — often linked to by-product content. |
| Moisture | Humedad | 水分 | Water content, typically 6-12% in traded fishmeal; too high invites mould, too low signals overheating. |
| Fat / lipids | Grasa | 脂肪 | Residual oil left in the meal after pressing; lower fat improves shelf life. |
| Sand / salt | Arena y sal | 砂盐 | Impurity measures; sand-and-salt-free basis is how protein contents are often compared. |
| FAQ meal | Harina FAQ | 普通级鱼粉 | Fair Average Quality — the standard commodity grade from mixed landings, without premium selection. |
| Prime grade | Grado prime | 优质级 | Higher grade than FAQ: tighter limits on TVN, histamine, ash and freshness. |
| Super prime | Súper prime | 超优质级 | Top commodity grade, typically from fresh whole anchoveta with strict freshness limits. |
| Dry matter basis | Base materia seca | 干物质基 | Recalculating nutrient content to zero moisture, so different lots compare fairly. |
| Digestibility | Digestibilidad | 消化率 | Share of protein an animal can actually absorb; freshness and processing heat both affect it. |
| FCR | Índice de conversión | 饲料系数 | Feed conversion ratio: feed needed per unit of farmed fish grown; fishmeal inclusion improves FCR. |
| El Niño | El Niño | 厄尔尼诺 | Pacific warming event that pushes anchoveta offshore or deeper and can close or shorten Peruvian seasons. |
| Quota | Cuota | 捕捞配额 | Season catch cap set by the fisheries ministry; Peru's PRODUCE announces them per season and zone. |
| INDOPESCA | INDOPESCA | 秘鲁渔业公告 | Peru's official fisheries gazette where season closures and quotas are published. |
| Insect meal | Harina de insectos | 昆虫蛋白 | Protein meal from farmed insects (e.g. black soldier fly); one of the main fishmeal substitutes. |
| Single-cell protein | Proteína unicelular | 单细胞蛋白 | Protein grown from microbes via fermentation; an emerging fishmeal alternative. |
| Trimmed landings | Desembarque procesado | 去杂卸货 | Landings measured after unwanted catch is removed; affects how quota utilisation reads. |
| Dioxins and PCBs | Dioxinas y PCBs | 二噁英与多氯联苯 | Environmental contaminants with strict legal limits in feed materials; part of routine contaminant screening. |
| Salmonella | Salmonela | 沙门氏菌 | Feed hygiene microbe; specifications demand absence in a defined sample mass. |
On spelling. Both fishmeal and fish meal are standard; the two-word form is more common in older US usage, the one-word form in the trade press. This site uses fishmeal except in direct quotations of specifications that spell it otherwise.
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Sources
- Bilingual trade/official usage — context.reverso.net/translation/spanish-english/harina+de+pescado (accessed 2026-10-24)