Understanding the value of freshwater aquaculture and fish processing by-products through agroinnovative approach & technological solutions

The H2020 SEA2LAND project (2021-2024) aims to provide solutions to help overcome challenges related to food production,  climate change and waste reuse. This project will meet this challenge by improving and adapting technologies for nutrient recovery to produce bio-based fertilisers (BBFs) and Tailor Made fertilisers (TMFs) from fishery and aquaculture by-products generated in Europe. Therefore, SEA2LAND will contribute to independence and secure the supply of nutrients to European agricultural systems and will promote the production of large-scale fertilizers (from non-imported raw materials), based on the circular economy model to transform by-products into nutrients for crops. Particularly, CAVIAR PIRINEA together with some research partners are mading  available extended catalogue of animal by product, which are routinely sold to waste managing companies with no valorisation  income derived. The technological approaches developed herein by BETA Technological Centre (BETA TC) are revealing that within  a private aquaculture production scenario of 3.100Tn fish/year (i.e., rainbow trout (O. mykiss) and sturgeon (Arcipenser sp.)) and  1.902Tn of fresh processed products/year (i.e., fish, roe and caviar) => 69m3 fish sludge, 96Tn fish víscera and 200Tn of non- conforming fish/year could respectively be valuated through some of the current research techniques in progress. Likewise, the  project could show that every increased productivity as derived from intensification in aquaculture and/or fish processing practices  will not only lead to a subsequent huge, but also economically recoverable production of agro innovative byproducts. The solutions  developed are expected to reduce the soil nutrient imbalance in Europe.