SUSTAINABLE AQUACULTURE – NEXT GENERATION OF AQUAFEEDS AND WASTE STREAM VALORIZATION
The National Research Council of Canada (NRCC) has a long history in marine biosciences, relying on unique infrastructure including the marine research station (MRS) in Ketch Harbour and expertise in algal research, bioprocessing, and the development of natural products with commercial applications. More recently, in response to the creation of the federal Ocean Supercluster (OSC), NRC launched in 2020 its NRC Ocean Program “Ocean Wealth – Ocean Health” to provide R&D support to OSC members and the scientific ocean community, largely to help strengthen a sustainable blue economy in Canada. As one of the fastest growing agri-food sectors, aquaculture is playing a critical role in global food production, but innovation and equity are required to ensure inclusive and sustainable growth of the industry. In that context, NRC has been investing and focusing its efforts on two research areas to 1) address the needs for novel and more sustainable sources of proteins, lipids and carotenoids for the development of the next generation of aquafeed as well as 2) develop innovative solutions to transform and convert waste streams into value-added products.
After an overview of the NRC’s Ocean program and introduce opportunities for collaborations, this presentation will describe three flagship projects representing NRC’s research in
- the development of low-trophic microbial ingredients for aquaculture feeds,
- the conversation of marine waste into functionalized chitin and chitosan nanocrystal with potential biomedical applications, and
- the isolation and application of cold-adapted proteases for the bioprocessing and valorization of marine waste.
