Blue revolution: Seafood sector pioneers pilot technologies and preservation methods to relieve strain on fisheries

07 Oct 2022 --- Alternative seafood processing technologies and improved efficiencies in aquaculture can help alleviate a significant amount of pressure from the traditional sector, which is known to pose significant greenhouse gas emissions while critically diminishing global fisheries.

To this end, pioneering innovators are exploring new methods of preserving fresh-caught fish based on precisely freezing cells, while advanced monitoring systems are offering better oversight to aquaculture management.

Australian open innovation B2B platform EarlyBirds has released a map of latest activities across the whole seafood industry, which charts some of these latest technological advancements.

“Today, innovations and disruptive technologies are addressing complex challenges in the aquaculture industry’s value chain,” EarlyBirds co-founder Jeff Penrose comments.

“This includes the need for decarbonization and adopting sustainable practices,” he stresses.  

“We can even focus on a single category that is relevant to a particular component of the industry including sustainability and net-zero operations.”

A new Cells Alive System technology enables seafood to be stored for long time periods while preserving freshness in a previously impossible way with the traditional methods of freezing.Slowing eating toward extinction
Excessive unrestrained fishing has led to the demise of the population of marine life in many fishing hotspots around the world and it has even driven some species of prized catch to extinction.

EarlyBirds considers aquaculture as an antidote to meet the demand for seafood in light of government restrictions and declining fish populations in the wild due to either overfishing or climate change. 

In 2018, the industry reached an estimated US$232 billion in revenue and generated 80 million metric tons of food, even surpassing the biomass of the total beef produced. Most of the innovation in the industry comes from perfecting facilities raising salmon, which has a high demand due to its high nutritional value.

The cost of fish feed is the biggest roadblock, stresses Kris Poria, co-founder of EarlyBirds. 

“Commercial fish feed is made from ground fish and fish oil, which in turn depends on the output of wild fisheries of smaller forage fish or other aquaculture operations.”

“Some of the ways to address this are using vegetable proteins and oils or even farmed insects or microalgae as fish feed. Genetic selection and controlled breeding can be leveraged to raise fish that have higher rates of survival and a better meat-to-body mass ratio.”

A recent study evidenced that increasing the volume of upcycled food system byproducts and residues into feed and ingredients remains a critical vehicle to offset competition between aquaculture fodder production and the F&B industry at large.

Mechanizing seafood production
On the mechanical side of things, Poria highlights that innovations in robotics can be used to create aquaculture facilities that can operate with minimal oversight reducing labor costs.

Advanced sensors that can remain completely submerged “almost indefinitely can supercharge the data that researchers need to tweak their processes,” he shares.

Supply chains can also be optimized using vehicles and refrigeration solutions connected to the Internet of Things (IoT) to reduce transport times and costs and ensure that only fresh fish reaches the dinner table. Some scientists have even suggested the use of drones to monitor equipment in both onshore and offshore fish farms.

As preservation strategies remain key to eliminating food waste, Anyong Biotechnology, an aquatic food processing company based in Taiwan, emerged in the spotlight as the first company in the region to employ Cells Alive System (CAS) technology from Japan.

CAS enables seafood to be stored for long time periods while preserving freshness in a previously impossible way with the traditional methods of freezing. CASprevents degradation of quality over long time periods, overcoming the limitations of time and place to expand the possibilities of food “you can only eat here or now.”

“Outstanding quality comes from a high-standard processing environment, technology, and food safety management system. CAS technology gives you fish as fresh as if you lived beside a seaport,” says Guo Zhi Hui, chairman of Anyong Biotechnology.

Forsea Foods brought its novel cell-based eel concept “closer to natural perfection,” it states, through its patented organoid technology.The system is marketed among the most developed freezing technologies in Asia, according to the company.

Originally a medical-grade technology for freezing stem cells, CAS has the ability to preserve the freshness of ingredients while maintaining the nutritive value and taste of fresh catch after thawing. 

The CAS engine does this by ensuring cell tissues remain intact during the freezing process. It generates a special magnetic field around the fresh food that comprises a mix of pulsed magnetic fields, low-frequency waves and several other types of weak energy, causing water molecules within to vibrate.

Ice crystals can form while the cell wall and membrane integrity remain unharmed, safeguarding against water loss from the food. Furthermore, this process is done without the addition of additives.

Seafood giant’s foray into plant-based
Meanwhile, Thai Union, a traditional global seafood heavyweight, has notably been turning its attention to the alternative protein arena – which continues to hold consumer focus for its eco-centric positioning. The manufacturer of Chicken of the Sea Frozen Foods recently formed an alliance in North America with plant-based seafood brand, The ISH Food Company. 

“We are excited to expand our reach within the alternative protein space through this alliance with The ISH Food Company,” remarks Maarten Geraets, Thai Union’s managing director for alternative proteins. 

“Our corporate venture business arm has been working closely with innovative alternative protein start-ups as we increase our attention and investment in sustainable seafood alternatives.”

As a prominent distributor of frozen shrimp and pasteurized crab meat in North America, Thai Union highlights its expertise in the seafood category, which it will leverage in this new market.

In a recent survey by Chicken of the Sea Frozen Foods, grocery and foodservice executives and buyers received ample requests for plant-based (35%) and lab-grown (31%) seafood products this year.

Among other alternative seafood developments from recent weeks, Forsea Foods brought its novel cell-based eel concept “closer to natural perfection,” it states, through its patented organoid technology.

Meanwhile, Spain-based Mimic Seafood is expanding its production capacity in Madrid to bring more consumers its tomato-based tuna sushi, while Bluu Seafood’s cell-based sashimi and cultured fish products are poised to make a splash in Singapore.

By Benjamin Ferrer