Circularity of seafood supply chain

Expected Outcome:

Project results are expected to contribute to all of the following expected outcomes:

• Measurable improvements in the competitiveness and increased environmental sustainability of the EU’s fisheries and/or aquaculture sectors by integrating circular economy principles;

• Minimized and better managed waste products derived from fisheries and/or aquaculture sectors as well as improved reutilization and reduction of by-products;

• Reduced existing barriers preventing the implementation and development of circular principles in seafood chains, such as the cost of advanced processing technologies, regulatory hurdles, lack of collaboration across the different seafood supply chain actors or limited market demand and acceptance;

• Measurable socio-economic benefits for local stakeholders and communities involved in the seafood processing chain.

Scope:

Proposals under this topic are expected to show how activities and results will contribute to achieve Mission objective 2 - prevent and eliminate pollution of marine and freshwaters and Mission objective 3 – Sustainable, carbon-neutral and circular blue economy.

The goal is to improve the competitiveness of the European seafood industry along the value chain while ensuring optimal resource use and minimising environmental impacts by applying circular economy principles to the aquaculture and/or fisheries sectors.

In this topic, seafood covers marine or freshwater edible organisms, including seaweeds and algae.

Projects under this topic are relevant to the Circular Economy Action Plan, the EU Bioeconomy Strategy, the EU Algae Initiative, the EU Action Plan Towards Zero Pollution, the European Ocean Pact and the Mission objective of making the blue economy sustainable.

The circular approach in seafood supply chain can be applied by the reduction and better management of waste products and/or by improving the valorisation of fisheries and aquaculture by-products which can be used as input for other industries. The aquaculture sector can also explore more sustainable and circular practices as following the example of the Integral Multi-tropic Aquaculture (IMTA) or the diversification to lower trophic species. Another example is the use of innovative organic feed from fisheries bycatch, agriculture products or low-trophic species, as alternatives to traditional fish meal and fish oil, which will reduce dependency on wild fish stocks.

Proposals under this topic should test and demonstrate the technical feasibility, the economic viability and the effectiveness of innovative solutions that improve the circularity and the sustainability of the seafood chain of aquaculture and/or fisheries sectors. These circular solutions should also provide socio-economic benefits to the local communities and stakeholders across the seafood value chain by creating jobs and business opportunities, and enhance skills at local level.

Proposals should address at least one of the following issues:

• Innovative and efficient methods and techniques for extracting high-value compounds and valorising seafood by-products from discards of unavoidable unwanted catches or waste products (e.g.: fish sludge, fish manure, trimmings, viscera, shells, seaweed and algal residues, etc.). These high-value extracted compounds can be used for different applications, such as animal feed, or as inputs for other industries like, for instance, food production, fertilisers, nutraceuticals, cosmetics, biotech industries, bioplastics and bio-based packaging. Applications in the field of alternative energy sources or pharmaceuticals are excluded under this topic.

• Innovative organic feed ingredients, as alternatives to fish meal and fish oil, with the potential to support good growth and Feed Conversion Ratio (FCR) taking into account single species nutritional needs, enabling sustainable future organic aquaculture development in Europe.

The effectiveness, feasibility and efficiency of the proposed solutions should be demonstrated in real conditions through, at least, three use cases per project.

The monitoring and quantifying of waste products from aquaculture and fisheries are also relevant to improve the circularity of those sectors. Therefore, projects under this topic should also implement digital tools and predictive models able to monitor pollution and to improve waste management from aquaculture and/or fisheries activities that can measure the effectiveness of the implemented circular solutions in reducing waste.

Each proposal should address only one basin / Mission “lighthouse”, which should be explicitly stated in the proposal, i.e.: 1. Atlantic and Arctic sea basin or 2. Mediterranean Sea basin or 3. Baltic and North Sea basin or 4. Danube River basin (including the Black Sea). Activities should be tailored to address regional/sea basin specificities.

Proposals should foster cross-sectoral cooperation by involving all relevant stakeholders across the seafood supply chain including producers, processing industries, technology providers and researchers in the co-creation of innovative solutions to increase the competitiveness and sustainability of the seafood industry and generate socio-economic benefits at local level. Proposals should take measures for an early involvement of relevant stakeholders in the project. The proposed solutions should also show the potential for further scaling up and replication.

In addition, activities and proposed solutions should be implemented in a way that respect and benefit ecosystems health and biodiversity and that ensure and prioritize the health and welfare of animals. The innovative solutions should respect principles and objectives of the Regulation (EU) 2018/848 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 30 May 2018 on organic production and labelling of organic products and repealing Council Regulation (EC) No 834/2007 EU organic aquaculture regulation[1].

Projects should consider the results of relevant projects implemented under EMFAF, Horizon 2020 and Horizon Europe and cooperate and exchange as appropriate with them. Projects are also expected to cooperate and exchange with projects funded under the topic HORIZON-CL6-2027-01-CIRCBIO-11: “Increasing the circularity of bio-based sector: upcycling and recycling for higher value and environmental benefits” as well as with activities under the Circular Biobased Europe (CBE) Joint Undertaking[2] and the Sustainable Blue Economy partnership [3]. Proposals are encouraged to consider, when relevant, the services offered by European Research Infrastructures as well as relevant Research Infrastructure projects in the field of fisheries and aquaculture such as AQUASERV.[4]

Proposals should establish operational links and cooperate with the relevant Lighthouse CSAs and the Mission Implementation Platform, notably to contribute to tracking progress towards the objectives of the Mission and coordination of all relevant implementation activities in the lighthouse basin.

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Activities are expected to achieve TRL 6-8 by the end of the project – see General Annex B.

[1] Regulation - 2018/848 - EN - EUR-Lex

[2] https://www.cbe.europa.eu/projects

[3] https://www.bluepartnership.eu/projects

[4] The catalogue of European Strategy Forum on Research Infrastructures (ESFRI) research infrastructures portfolio can be browsed from ESFRI website https://ri-portfolio.esfri.eu/; AQUASERV – research infrastructure services for sustainable aquaculture, fisheries and the blue economy https://www.aquaserv-ri.eu/