FOODIMAR

Today’s food systems face numerous challenges, with climate change being a major one. Fisheries and aquaculture are particularly vulnerable to the adverse effects of climate change. Simultaneously, seafood plays a critical role in the transition towards more sustainable and nutritious food systems.

How can we enhance the resilience of the European seafood value chains?

How to improve resource use efficiency and sustainability within the seafood industry?

The seafood processing industries generate substantial quantities of side-streams, often discarded, or used for low-value purposes such as animal feed or fish oil. However, these side-streams represent a valuable source of bioactive compounds with the potential for added value in higher-end markets, such as nutraceuticals and functional foods.

FOODIMAR aims to develop new industry-relevant solutions from fisheries and aquaculture side-streams for climate-friendly, cost-effective, sustainable, and high-quality food market applications. The project centers around three pilot studies: (1) the Norwegian pilot focuses on fisheries side-streams from the North Sea, (2) the Danish pilot revolves around the utilization of jellyfish by-catch from the Baltic Sea, and (3) the Turkish case deals with aquaculture side-streams from the Mediterranean Sea. These pilot studies serve a dual purpose: they showcase representative value chains in European regions and sea basins while simultaneously developing solutions tailored to each unique context. This approach ensures that the solutions are not only effective at the local level but also possess broad applicability across Europe.

FOODIMAR’s consortium comprises six partners, including a commercialization partner from Turkey, all of whom bring substantial knowledge and expertise gained from projects like WaseaBi, GoJelly!, SeaSnacks, and Baltic Blue Biotech Alliance. This collective experience in the valorization of marine resources and innovation is a cornerstone of the project’s success.

FOODIMAR is committed to developing innovative, cost-effective, and climate-friendly methods to produce high-quality marine collagen, gelatin, and glycosaminoglycans (GAGs) to meet the industry and consumers’ needs.

The smart valorisation of side-streams and a shift towards a circular economy, contribute not only to the physical and economic resilience of the European seafood value chains but also to the environmental and ecological sustainability of the industry. FOODIMAR’s innovations exceed current standards and facilitate further development, assessment, training, knowledge transfer, diversification, industry uptake, and job creation. In the long term, FOODIMAR’s impact will yield a clear, reproducible blueprint for high-quality resilient, ecologically sound food-grade solutions, ensuring food and nutrition security within planetary boundaries.