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In recent years, we have witnessed a shift in mindset and policies regarding the introduction of best practices aimed at redesigning, reusing, and recycling materials, with the goal of increasing sustainability, the circular economy, and preventing food waste. Terms such as waste, residue, and, more recently, by-products were, for many years, used to describe food that was discarded or used for purposes other than the food chain. With a wide range of new applications for these raw materials and the increase in their value, these terms have rapidly changed in order to shed the pejorative connotation they carry. It was within this paradigm that the concept of co-product in the food sector emerged.
According to the Business Dictionary, a co-product is a term that can be defined as a “product manufactured together with a different product, in a process where both are needed in the production of another product. In comparison, a by-product is generally an undesirable product.” In chemistry, for example, a co-product is a substance formed at the same time as the main or desired product during a chemical reaction that has equal or comparable economic significance (for example, in mining and ore extraction, many of the recovered elements have similar economic significance to each other) [1]. The difference from a by-product is essentially focused on a material that is incidental to the production process of other products and is negatively valued because it is not a primary product. Often, companies that generate co-products do not know how to value them, labeling them as waste, which instantly reduces their market value.
Like other food sectors, fishing, aquaculture, seafood processing industries, and other food sectors derived from the sea generate large quantities of co-products in their processes. These raw materials, or marine by-products, include fish, crustaceans, and mollusks, but also other aquatic species, such as aquatic mammals, reptiles, sponges, or seaweed, which are currently used for purposes other than human or animal food. In fact, today we find a wide range of industrial applications, from the chemical industry to medicine, pharmaceuticals, biofuels, biogas, clothing, plastics, or biomedical devices, and even jewelry, among others [2].
Despite this enormous potential of marine by-products, there are still many challenges related to legal barriers, industry awareness, and technologies to extract the full potential of these precious and abundant raw materials.
The latest FAO data shows that around 88% (156 million tonnes) of world fish production in 2018 was used for direct human consumption and the remaining 12% (22 million tonnes) was used for non-food purposes, mainly to produce fishmeal and fish oil. Both can be produced from whole fish, fish trimmings or other by-products of fish processing, and are still considered the most nutritious and digestible ingredients for aquaculture fish, as well as the main source of long-chain omega-3 fatty acids (eicosapentaenoic acid [EPA] and docosahexaenoic acid [DHA]) [2]. Although fish oil represents the richest available source of long-chain polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs), which play a wide range of crucial roles in human health, the Marine Ingredients Organisation (IFFO) estimates that around 75% of annual fish oil production is used in aquaculture feed [3]. By-products can also be used to produce fish silage, obtained through the acidification and natural hydrolysis of proteins, which is a rich protein hydrolysate and a less expensive alternative to fishmeal and fish oil. It is increasingly used as a feed additive, for example, in aquaculture and the pet food industry, as it has the potential to improve growth and reduce mortality in fed animals [4][5].
As direct human consumption of fish is increasing at an average annual rate of 3.1% (from 1961 to 2017), fish by-products are expected to continue to increase. On the other hand, demand driven by a rapidly growing aquaculture industry (which already accounts for 46% of total production) has increased the prices of fishmeal and fish oil. As a result, a growing share of fishmeal and fish oil has been produced from fish by-products. Currently, these by-products, which were previously often discarded or used as direct feed, in silage, or in fertilizers, are estimated to represent up to 25–35% of the total volume of fishmeal and fish oil.
Finally, the growth of the fish processing industries in recent years has resulted in increasing quantities of by-products, which can represent up to 70% of processed fish [2].
Regarding animal by-products, which include marine by-products, the EU establishes specific legislation (Regulation EC 1774/2002) that defines strict animal health and public health rules applicable to the protection, transport, storage, handling, processing and use or disposal of this type of by-product. The canning and processed fish industry generates large quantities of by-products, most of which are recovered in accordance with these directives (Category 3, i.e., safe by-products that can be reintroduced into the food chain), and are frequently used to produce fishmeal and fish oil, which, although profitable, is not the highest value application available. Fish by-products are generally composed of heads (9–12% of the total weight of the fish), viscera (12–18%), bones (9–15%), scales (about 5%) and skin (1–3%) which have many lucrative applications [6]. Seaweed, aquatic plants and other aquatic organisms are also the subject of promising research and pilot projects for application in medicine, cosmetics, water treatment, the food industry and biofuels. Some of the main applications are described in Table 1:
The increase in overexploited fish stocks is one indicator, but not the only one, that the state of global marine fisheries is deteriorating, with a negative impact on fish production at both economic and social levels. Discards are a waste of biological resources, being partly responsible for the depletion of aquatic species populations. By-products can originate from ports and fish markets where the first sale of fish occurs, from fish processing industries (e.g., canning, freezing of fish, salting and drying of cod), from trawling fleets (non-target species), and from onboard processing (evisceration and subsequent cleaning – sometimes around 80% of the individual). This onboard evisceration contributes, in addition to adverse effects on the food chain, to the accumulation of pollutants such as PCBs, dioxins, and heavy metals, and to the dispersal of parasites found in the viscera in fishing areas. To avoid this situation, the European Commission has taken several measures to implement “zero waste” and “zero-discard” policies, thus highlighting the importance of valorizing marine co-products as a measure to reduce waste. Furthermore, the European Action Plan for the Circular Economy includes a series of related initiatives for establishing a strategic framework for product sustainability, including circularity in production processes [12].
In this scenario, biological resources are a key input for the EU economy and will play an even more important role in the future, as the development of a blue bioeconomy based on marine bioresources has been considered fundamental to meeting the growing need for raw materials. The use and valorization of these bioresources allows for the diversification of raw materials, reduces pressure on natural resources and, consequently, contributes to the preservation of the environment and the mitigation of the consequences of climate change. Thus, it is essential to develop biorefinery and circular economy concepts, changing attitudes towards waste from production processes and rethinking the full valorization of co-products, reducing losses [4].
Portugal stands out among EU countries due to its peripheral location and vast exclusive economic zone, and for a fishing sector with significant economic activity. According to the National Institute of Statistics, national aquaculture production in 2019 was 14,337 tons and generated revenue of €118,529, reflecting increases of approximately 2.5% in quantity and 22.4% in value, compared to 2018. Regarding fish catches, these reached 163,837 tons in 2020 (13.1% less than in 2019), reversing the upward trend seen in previous years, which is due to the COVID-19 pandemic [9].
Given the importance of the sea to the Portuguese economy, Portuguese and European political agendas have prioritized the Blue Bioeconomy sector as one of the economic sectors with the greatest growth potential. Since Expo 98, dedicated to the oceans and the future, and the Marine Science and Technology Boosting Program created at that time, Portugal has multiplied the number of marine science researchers, created highly equipped laboratories and research units, and integrated these assets into European scientific networks. Among the most recent funding programs, MAR 2020 and the Blue Fund stand out, as well as multiple European funding mechanisms covering sea-related activities in recent years. The valorization of marine by-products is one of the themes that these programs hope to explore and leverage. In this context, several activities and projects have been developed, mostly at the international level, but also some interesting national initiatives.
In the context of mapping marine by-products, the NEPTUNUS and ENABLING projects stand out. The first aims to create a stakeholder platform for fish waste, involving all stakeholders in the fish supply chain and Atlantic countries, and the second developed a European biomass trading platform to unite producers and processors for the exchange of currently undervalued organic by-products. In recent years, several Portuguese projects for the valorization of marine by-products have been developed through the development of new strategies to create new formulations for human food or animal feed, but also applications in cosmetics and/or biomedicine. These developments have included the creation of new processing technologies or biorefineries. Examples of projects include ICOD, NOVOMAR, MULTIBIOREFINERY, VALORINTEGRADOR and VALORPEIXE. VALORMAR is the most recent national project that aims to add value to marine resources for different applications through the development of new biorefinery technologies and processes. Also noteworthy is CONSERVAL, an Interreg cooperation project between Portugal and the Galicia region (Spain) to develop technologies for recovering by-products and wastewater from the fish canning sector. Considering that Spain is the main producer and exporter of canned fish in the EU and Portugal is the fourth, this project is highly relevant to understanding the real situation of this sector. Research carried out by this project shows that most of the companies surveyed generate Category 3 by-products from processed fish (300 to more than 4,200 tons/year), with an estimated 30–70% discarded as solid waste (heads, viscera, tails, bones, etc.). The same study reveals that 47% of canned fish in Portugal is tuna, 19% sardine, 19% mackerel, and 15% other species.
More recently, in 2020, the BLUEBIO ALLIANCE, in association with CIIMAR, published the Blue Bioeconomy Roadmap for Portugal [10]. The report explored the economic sectors of the Blue Bioeconomy and collected data on bioresources and their application in Portugal. The main results show that stakeholders in the Portuguese Blue Bioeconomy focus on fish as a resource (37%) and food as a destination (47%). However, other resources and applications are gaining considerable attention: 17% of stakeholders use marine bacteria, 16% microalgae, and 15% macroalgae. Furthermore, 19% of participants work with the pharmaceutical industry, 18% with cosmetics, and 18% with the feed and nutraceutical industries. Despite the enormous potential of co-products, only 8% use co-products from the fishing industry.
In Portugal, there are some companies recycling and transforming marine co-products. SAVINOR UTS (part of the Soja de Portugal Group) is the leading company in the sector, collecting, processing, and recovering all fish by-products from canning industries in Portugal and Galicia, transforming them into sustainable fishmeal and fish oil. The ETSA Group in Lisbon and Figueirense de Pesca in Figueira da Foz are other important players in Portugal.
Regarding algae, research and development, as well as industrial activities, are growing in Portugal, with several players leading the way, namely A4F, Algaplus, AllMicroalgae, Necton, Iberagar and Buggypower. However, algae production in Portugal is still small and it is not yet known whether it generates co-products. [11]
Despite the recognition of the great potential of marine co-products, there are still numerous challenges and barriers that hinder progress in promoting their valorization and reducing food waste. Some co-products may not be produced in sufficient quantities to allow for scaling up value-added uses. Precise information on the quantities produced and the composition of co-products from fish processing industries is still lacking. Even with the new technological developments in recent years developed by researchers, there are some barriers to their implementation in industry. Many companies do not even know the potential of their co-products, nor do they have sufficiently organized markets for these co-products, much less for biotechnological applications. There is also resistance to process change within organizations because it involves costs, employee training, new separation and segregation processes, logistics, and food safety issues. Furthermore, there are challenges related to limited knowledge transfer and proper communication between industries that possess the know-how and academia, which could promote innovation or research to overcome these difficulties. Finally, the valorization of co-products always has legal and regulatory implications, which are bureaucratic and sometimes confusing due to differences between European and Portuguese legislation, resulting in delays in the implementation of these innovative processes.
Our team operates as a key facilitator of innovation, bringing innovative ideas to maturity and higher levels of valorization in different markets, while improving communication between academia and industry, thus stimulating relationships between these sectors. B2E is strategically positioned to accelerate the sustainable development of the Brazilian Blue Bioeconomy, specifically operating in the area of marine biotechnology, as well as aquaculture and the valorization of marine living resources.
We are currently developing a project to map marine co-products in Portugal. With this project, we will build the largest database on this segment, promoting and multiplying the consortium options for participants, as well as profitable services. To this end, B2E intends to collect detailed information on the types and quantities of these co-products, serving as a basis for the creation of a toolbox for identifying new value chains.
Our activity is leveraged not only by a multifaceted team of employees, but also by an invaluable network of associates who strategically cover the entire value chain of B2E’s areas of operation – this fruitful interaction with our associates has been successful in highlighting us, and the B2E name is beginning to gain traction. Therefore, if you work in these areas and would like to boost your business, talk to us!
[1] A Dictionary of Chemical Engineering, Science and Technology, Engineering and Technology, 2014.
[2] FAO, “The State of World Fisheries and Aquaculture 2020,” Sustainability in Action, Rome, 2020.
[3] Auchterlonie, N., “The continuing importance of fish meal and fish oil in aquafeeds,” in Aquafarm, Pordenone, Italy, February 15–16, 2018.
[4] Kim, S.-E. & Mendis, E., “Bioactive compounds from marine processing by-products – a review,” Food Research International, vol. 39, p. 383–393, 2006.
[5] Toppe, J., Olsen, R.L., Peñarubia, O.R. & James, D.G., “Production and utilization of fish silage. A handbook on how to turn fish waste into profit and a valuable feed or fertilizer ingredient.” FAO, Rome, 30 pp., 2018.
[6] Al Khawli, F., Pateiro, M., Domínguez, R., Lorenzo, J.M., Gullón, P., Kousoulaki, K., Ferrer, E., Berrada, H. & Barba, F.J., “Innovative green intensification technologies for the valorization of seafood and its products.” Marine Drugs, vol. 17, p. 689, 2019.
[7] Tanna, B. & Mishra, A., “Moral potential of weed polysaccharides: structure, bioactivity, safety and toxicity,” Comprehensive Reviews in Food Science and Food Safety, vol. 18(3), no. 817–831, 18(3): 817–831. 2019.
[8] E. Álvarez-Castillo, M. Felix, C. Bengoechea, and A. Guerrero, “Proteins from agricultural industrial waste or co-products and their applications as green materials,” Foods, vol. 10, p. 981, 2021.
[9] National Institute of Statistics, “Fisheries Statistics”
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