Sustainable seafood sourcing, planet-friendly tech among EIT Food winners making waves

08 Jun 2021 --- Seven winning projects are set to accelerate innovation in the aquaculture sector following selection in EIT’s Food’s sustainable aquaculture competition. They focus on topics including optimizing the shelf life of seafood products, sourcing sustainable tuna, and eco-friendly systems for fish health management.

The aquaculture sector is “the fastest growing form of food production,” according to the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations.

While aquaculture products overall (including imports) represent 25 percent of EU consumption of seafood, EU aquaculture products represent only 10 percent of EU consumption, says the European Commission.

 The selected projects will make progress in the following areas: 

• Reducing food loss and waste by extending the shelf life of seafood products while increasing product safety and quality.
• Enhancing product quality, fish welfare and reducing the likelihood of disease.
• Producing high-quality and accessible sustainable feeds.
• Preserving marine biodiversity and ecosystems.
• Transforming aquaculture into a circular form of food production.
• Increasing the resilience and competitiveness of the EU aquaculture sector.
• Strengthening collaboration among stakeholders and addressing skills gaps.

EU aquaculture products represent only 10 percent of EU consumption.Fishing for solutions 
The EU Farm-to-Fork Strategy underlines the potential of farmed seafood as a source of protein for food and feed with a low-carbon footprint.

 “Aquaculture is a critical part of the solution,” says Mercedes Groba, innovation program manager at EIT Food. 

“Our promising innovation projects present a collaborative approach to meet the objectives of the European Green Deal and to transform the aquaculture industry into a sustainable form of food production.“

EIT’s sustainable aquaculture competition launched last December to strengthen the innovation portfolio of its 2021-2023 Business Plan and to expand its partner community. 

A total of 85 organizations from within and outside the EIT Food community participated in the competition. Of these, 32 project proposals were submitted for evaluation against their potential impact to fast-track sustainability within aquaculture. 

EIT food is the world’s largest Agrifood Innovation Ecosystem supported by the European Institute of Innovation and Technology (EIT). 

The European Commission recognizes aquaculture in its recent strategic guidelines as an important contribution to the fight against climate change, the reduction of pollution and the protection of ecosystems. It can also be part of a more circular management of resources. 

The victorious seven
The winning projects from EIT Food’s sustainable aquaculture competition are: 

1. Sustainable Seafood Processing (SuSeaPro) – will develop novel processing technologies that extend the shelf life of seafood products and do not rely on additives or heat treatment to reduce food loss and waste from farm-to-fork. The project will also improve food safety and enhance consumer perception by reducing the microbial growth of harmful pathogens. 

Project Consortium: SuSea (The Netherlands), the University of Aarhus (Denmark) and the Agricultural University of Athens (Greece)

2. Next Tuna: Creating a Sustainable Tuna Industry – will create the first sustainable European source of tuna by reproducing Atlantic Bluefin Tuna in a land-based, eco-friendly recirculating aquaculture system. The project will contribute to the preservation of Atlantic Bluefin Tuna and more widely, protect the wildlife of our oceans and seas.

 Project Consortium: Next Tuna GmbH (Germany), The Spanish Institute of Oceanography (Spain), Wageningen Livestock Research (The Netherlands) and Seafarming System AS (Norway)

EIT Food’s competition set out to accelerate innovation in Europe’s aquaculture sector.3. Cewatech: A circular economy feed ingredient for farmed salmon – will develop a fish feed for salmon that contains protein from recycled wastewater in the starch industry. The project will support the natural defense mechanisms of salmon by supporting their basic biological functions while preventing disease. The fish feed will be made from a sustainable fungi-based protein to replace the use of fishmeal and soybean meal.

Project Consortium: Cewatech (Sweden), Technical University of Denmark (Denmark) and Matis (Iceland)

4. Breeze: An eco-friendly system for fish health management – will enable the successful scaling of sustainably managed fish farms, to meet the growing demand for healthy proteins. It aims to bring to market a residue-free prevention and control system for sea lice management, to contribute to increased resistance to diseases, while increasing awareness of animal welfare and minimizing environmental impact. 

Project Consortium: Aqua Pharma Group (Norway), Pulcea (UK), University of Stirling (UK) and the Norwegian University of Science and Technology (Norway)

5. AGAPE: Aquacultural Global AI Platform for Europe’s Skills Passport – AGAPE represents an AI-based collaborative platform. This platform addresses the EU aquaculture market, academia, consumers and research ecosystems. AGAPE is first in bringing an innovative model of interaction between stakeholders. It will broaden the community on skills, capabilities and competencies, globally and in real-time. 

Project Consortium: Milcoop BC (Italy), Federpesca (Italy), Gargano Pesca Consortium (Italy), the University of Peloponnese (Greece) and Focos (Germany)

Two of the winning projects will build recirculating aquaculture systems to farm Atlantic fish.6. Delta Futuro: A shellfish juvenile production model –  is an optimized sustainable shellfish farming system that aims to guarantee the well-being of shellfish juveniles and ensure food security for future consumers. The project will respond to the lack of high-quality manila clam seed by scaling up hatcheries and improving seed availability for farmers.

Project Consortium: Delta Futuro (Italy), Biores Soc Coop (Italy) and Foundation Seashell (The Netherlands)

7. Just Add Water: Utilizing world-leading technology to minimize environmental impact and maximize fish welfare of farmed salmon – will grow Atlantic salmon in recirculating aquaculture systems (RAS), throughout the EU. The project will aim to expand and commercialize its technology that improves animal welfare and product quality and accommodates many fish species across multiple geographical locations. 

Project Consortium: FishFrom Ltd. (UK), University of Trento (Italy), University of Bologna (Italy) and Hub Innovazione Trentino (Italy)

Building a large network of collaborators 
As a result of the competition, 18 new partners will also be joining EIT Food to expand and strengthen its community in aquaculture.

“Commercial businesses do not always get the chance to meet and collaborate with academia, but through the EIT Food network we’ve found the perfect partners to address one of the formidable challenges in growing fish in recirculating aquaculture systems,” says Andrew Robertson, director of FishFrom, one of the seven winning projects. 

In other moves, EIT Food and the agrifood-tech venture capital fund PeakBridge launched a new seed fund for European agrifood-tech start-ups in April. 

In May, EIT Food entered into partnership with the new European Carbon+ Farming Coalition to decarbonize the European food system. 

Edited by Missy Green