Lead institution:
Hellenic Centre for Marine Research (HCMR) – Greece
The VASEACAD project aims to maximize the value derived from marine fish biomass side streams within the aquaculture and fisheries sectors. Its primary objective is to enhance the efficiency and circularity of these industries while promoting sustainable practices and value creation from underutilized resources.
Focusing on species such as blue fin tuna (BFT), European seabass, gilthead seabream, European sprat and blue whiting, the project aims to extract high-value biomolecules for various applications. A fundamental challenge in the Mediterranean region is the fragmented and small quantities of side streams compared to those in Northern Europe.
Addressing this, SINTEF’s Mobile Sealab integrates a setup aimed at recovering valuable resources such as oil, protein-rich fractions and other nutrients from waste generated by the fisheries sector. Hydrolysates play a crucial role in preserving biomass, maintaining nutrient content, extending shelf life, reducing environmental impact, adding value, and providing health benefits. Despite currently being repurposed into neutraceuticals and ingredients for animal feed in Northern Europe, there is potential to extract high-quality Omega-3 fish oil and proteins from these underutilized raw materials even in the Mediterranean and Black Seas.
With 7 scientific objectives guiding its efforts, VASEACAD tackles critical knowledge gaps and challenges. These include effectively extracting biomolecules from seafood side streams, developing bioactive hydrolysates to mitigate chronic inflammatory diseases, scaling up production of protein hydrolysates, utilizing solid spent residue for aquafeeds, promoting inter-species recycling, evaluating economic and environmental implications and advancing knowledge and policy development for European interspecies recycling.
The methodology is comprehensive and collaborative, organized into six distinct work packages (WPs) covering coordination, bioactive hydrolysate generation, valorization of side streams, feeding trials, economic viability analysis, and dissemination. Through these WPs, VASEACAD leverages the expertise of consortium members from various institutions and countries to ensure a holistic approach. Ethical considerations are central, with a commitment to compliance with national and international guidelines, transparent stakeholder engagement and health and safety measures. Stakeholder engagement follows a quadruple helix model, involving research organizations, industry partners, government agencies and societal representatives, ensuring alignment with societal needs and values.
In terms of expected impacts, VASEACAD aims to valorise seafood side streams, contributing to food security, resource utilization and environmental sustainability. It is anticipated that the project will lead to industry adoption of optimized processes, policy integration, economic growth, job creation and improved environmental sustainability in the aquaculture and fisheries sectors.
Start Date: 1/1/2025
End Date: 31/12/2028
Lead Contact: Yannis Kotzamanis (jokotz@hcmr.gr)