CIIMAR fights aquaculture waste with the SIDESTREAM project

CIIMAR, the research centre of the U.Porto comprises the SIDESTREAM international Consortium, which targets the creation of new ingredients for aquaculture, in order to build a sustainable aquaculture sector.

CIMMAR, the Interdisciplinary Centre of Maritime and Environmental Investigation of the University of Porto is a partner institution of SIDESTREAM, a European Consortium in the sector of blue bio-economy, which will produce new ingredients for aquaculture, over the next three years, made out of the recycling of resources that were deemed waste, until now.

The SIDESTREAM project is headed by the Sintef Ocean in Norway and involves nine European partners, such as CIIMAR, Portugal; CSIC, Spain; AWI, Germany; Projecthub360, Italy; Nofima, Biokraft and Skretting in Norway. At national level, the project is coordinated by CIIMAR researchers Luísa Valente and Filipe Castro, professor at the Institute of Biomedical Sciences Abel Salazar (ICBAS) and the Faculty of Sciences, respectively.

Until 2024, all eight research teams will have the mission to produce high added value compounds, by using invertebrates and marine bacteria, which will be produced in waste streams that follow circular principles.

Aquaculture currently plays a key role when it comes to the global production of food, and it is affirming worldwide as one of the most significant alternative to the traditional ways of natural resources supply. This sector is even the largest consumer of aquatic food components, so it requires new highly nutritional ingredients to ensure the sustainable expansion of the sector.

SIDESTREAM enables the developing of innovative processes to value sub products that have been considered waste within the aquaculture, agriculture sectors and the biogas industries sector to reach a zero waste scenario.