Aquaculture Europe 2021

October 4 - 7, 2021

Funchal, Madeira

Add To Calendar 07/10/2021 16:50:0007/10/2021 17:10:00Europe/LisbonAquaculture Europe 2021CIRCULARITY AND WASTE VALORISATION FROM A (RAS) FISH FARMERS PERSPECTIVECaracas 4th FloorThe European Aquaculture Societywebmaster@aquaeas.orgfalseDD/MM/YYYYaaVZHLXMfzTRLzDrHmAi181982

CIRCULARITY AND WASTE VALORISATION FROM A (RAS) FISH FARMERS PERSPECTIVE

Paul-Daniel Sindilariu*, Jan Giebichenstein1

 

* Next Tuna GmbH, Londoner Strasse 3, 60327 Frankfurt am Main, Germany / Tropenhaus Frutigen, Tropenhausweg 1, 3714 Frutigen, Switzerland

 paul@nexttuna.com

1 Next Tuna GmbH, Londoner Str. 3, 60327 Frankfurt am Main, Germany / C-Feed AS

Brattørkaia 17B 7010 Trondheim Norway

 



Introduction

In the framework of the European Green Deal, the EU commission has published its Aquaculture strategic guidelines. In these guidelines, the circular approaches, waste valorisation and recirculating aquaculture production are key elements to increase the needed EU aquaculture production.

Within the Horizon 2020 framework, the Commission financed three major research projects looking into novel approaches of aquaculture farming and circular economy in aquaculture (Gain, IMPAQT and iFishIENCi). These projects bring essential new impulses to the discussion on waste valorisation and circular concepts in aquaculture. However, the majority of presented circular solution take the approach from the perspective of the additional value creation, rather than from the need of the fish farmer. This presentation want’s to bring back the focus of the discussion to the needs of the industry.

The Farmers Perspective

However, compared to the scientific approach to the topic, a fish farmer has a far more practical approach to waste management, waste valorisation and circularity.

At the moment all waste handling in aquaculture is a necessity due to legal/public requirements. Waste management is part of the production license of each aquaculture facility but the rules for waste management differ tremendously from country to country within the EU, from region to region within one country and even from site to site within one region.

For the fish farmer, waste management, in most cases, does not produce more fish, or makes the product more appreciated. Waste management only adds costs, in a very competitive business environment.

Thus, any new approach to waste valorisation to be accepted by the industry, it needs to have some key features:

  1. Change the waste handling for the farmer from a cost factor, to a revenue stream, or at least to a lower cost factor.
  2. Easy and simple solution, as the farmer wants to focus on fish production and not on waste valorisation.
  3. Robust and reliable solution, the farmer never wants to come in a situation, where he has to stop the production, because the waste handling system is out of operation.

Potential solutions

In order to achieve the positive acceptance by the industry, solutions to waste valorisation need to have the following features:

  1. Low mutual dependency and interconnection. None of the partners should be dependent of a well working process of the other partner. Thus, issues in the valorisation process do not affect the production capacity of the fish farm and vice versa.
  2. No spatial dependency. The valorisation process should not absolutely need to happen next to the fish farm, as the required space, license, infrastructure might not be available. Ideally the valorisation of waste become just a question of smart logistics.
  3. Mutual benefit. Both the aquaculture producer and the waste valorisation should profit from the valorisation process.

In conclusion new potential valorisation technologies need to go far beyond the actual applied industry standard of sludge thickening and subsequent biogas production or land application as fertilizer.