New Brunswick wants more value added products from seafood waste
Canada: It is calculated that New Brunswick annually generate more than 58,000 tons of seafood waste. Some is processed into fish meal, but much of it ends up in landfills or back into the sea.
A Quebec based company, Ocean Nutrasciences, has partnered with NB based Coastal Zones Research Institute and started a new research and development project in Shippagan. The goal is to generate more value from all the seafood which is caught, farmed and produced in the province.
Three of the region's seafood processors are also participating to develop and market seafood bio-products.
According to Ocean Nutraciences, seafood bio-products have potential to be used as food ingredients, nutritional supplements, medication and cosmetics.
Ocean Nutraciences, established in 1999, specializes in the scientific valorization of marine biomasses into raw material and finished natural health products. The company develops, manufactures, valorizes (clinical studies) and commercializes (licenses) finished products derived from organic solvent free marine hydrolysates (crustaceans, seaweed and fish).
The Coastal Zone Research Institute is an affiliate of Université de Moncton's Shippagan campus, focusing on aquaculture, fishery and marine products, and peat lands.
Ocean Nutraciences has previously partnered with Université de Montréal and Université de Laval on projects to explore the benefits of seafood bi-products on heart disease and diabetes, respectively.
