THE BIOTECHNOLOGY SPACE
One of the main aims of the project is to use new biotechnologies to convert fish waste into high value-added products, such as bioactive molecules (BAMs, including marine collagen) extracted from fish skins, skeleton and scales.
Importance of BAMs for human health
BAMs are isolated in marine species as neurotoxin, cardiotonic peptide, antiviral and antitumor peptide, cardiotoxin and antimicrobial peptide. The broad bioactivity spectrum of marine peptides is of considerable interest to the pharmaceutical, cosmetic and nutraceutical industry for the treatment or prevention of various diseases.
Despite progress in medicine, infections caused by bacteria, fungi, and viruses are still a major threat to public health. Rising numbers of microbial pathogens that have acquired antibiotic-resistance have increased the need for novel and effective antimicrobial compounds. Bioactive marine peptides, in particular, are considered as anti-infective drugs and, based on their structural properties, amino acid composition and sequences, have been shown to display a variety of bioactivities such as anti-tumor, antibacterial, anticoagulant, antioxidant, immunoinflammatory effects, and other properties.
The University of Palermo’s STEBICEF department is providing Malta with the necessary skills in biotechnologies for human health and blue growth to develop BAMs extraction also in Malta. The biotechnology space is organizing a series of knowledge transfer sessions for the Maltese biotechnologists, streaming, exchange visits etc., to ensure that skills are transferred to Malta. Biotechnologists have been selected from the University of Malta and the Department of Fisheries and Aquaculture to be specialized in this area.
Bioactive molecules (including collagen). As the sample waste arrives at the biotechnology lab, it will undergo preliminary classification; it will be separated, prepared and characterized. Samples will then be pre-treated and also sent to the university labs for testing.
The exact amino acid content of the protein molecules will be determined using mass spectrometry. Each of the selected molecules will be examined by the University of Palermo as regards a possible target market, for example within the cosmetics, pharmaceutical or nutraceutical industries.
We are concerned at this stage in the project in the isolation of bioactive molecules, peptides in particular, as it is known that marine organisms are an excellent source of bioactive molecules effective in the treatment of disease. Differing marine environments lead to chemical diversity and, therefore, potential novel therapeutic agents. Due to a marked need for new antimicrobial compounds effective against infections, marine peptides are considered of extreme interest in their role as anti-infective drugs. These peptides have been extracted from various marine sources, such as fish, mollusk, cnidarian and marine bacteria and have been shown to display a variety of bioactivities (anti-tumor, antibacterial, anticoagulant, antioxidant, immunoinflammatory effects).
Stability and compatibility tests with other cosmetic ingredients; functional – efficacy tests
Once the BAMs have been identified, a number of tests need to be carried out in order to position the products successfully on the market.
Tests include:
- stability tests on the product and compatibility tests with other cosmetic/pharmaceutical ingredients present in the final product. Testing involves the addition of the product in various concentration levels to standard cosmetic formulas (rinse off, emulsions), and the evaluation of any incompatibility or instability according to standard protocols used by the cosmetics industry;
- efficacy of the cosmetic function in order to verify the exertion of product functional cosmetic activity.
ECO-INNOVATION FISH FEED
This activity concerns the production of fish feed formulas tested using the pre-treated fish waste: the waste fish which is not suited to BAMs extraction is used in the production of eco-innovation fish feed.
This activity takes advantage of the large aquaculture sector on Malta and of the expertise provided by the Maltese project partner AquaBioTech, operating in this sector. The fish feed is being tested on a number of fish species (sea bream, sea bass, trout, salmon and other species) in ABT’s fish farm facility. The feed is formulated paying careful consideration to the correct nutritional balance required by the fish. ABT is responsible for the quality testing of the fish feed product in terms of ‘waste in/fish out’. This parameter allows us to determine the quality of the fish feed product in relation to this specific production activity (fish farming) and could be used as an indicator of the ability to transform the waste disposal management problem, at least in part, into a sustainable and economic resource.
The key ingredients in fish food are protein (based on digestibility) and fats in the form of Omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids. The main source of these proteins and fats has traditionally been fish caught in various parts of the world and not the use of fish waste. In recent times, the fishing industry has started to add soya, grain, maize and vegetable oils to its fish food formulation due to rising costs and a fall in supply of fresh fish.
A few tonnes of locally caught small pelagic fish species, such as mackerel, are utilized as feed in the tuna farming industry in Malta, although most of the fish feed (pelleted or whole fish) is imported [1]. Penned tuna are currently fed baitfish and the Maltese Ministry strategy currently recommends research into the development of alternative feeds to reduce reliance on other fish. There is, undoubtedly, a huge potential market for sustainable fish feed production to satisfy demand from the tuna farming industry; this would not only tackle the environmental problem of fish waste but also make the industry more profitable through savings from reduced imports. The project endeavours to exploit that demand with the feed formulations developed.
[1] FAO fishery country profile: Republic of Malta
THE BUSINESS SPACE
Business space core activities
- B2B meetings with the pharmaceutical and cosmetics industries
- meetings between enterprises, biotechnologists and business experts. Activities include training sessions, co-creation sessions and information events at the lab
Sourcing fish waste
Sicily has an active fish-processing sector, producing substantial amounts of fish waste. Although this sector in Malta is much smaller, both the food services sector and tuna farming play a prominent role in the local economy and could be a vital source of fish waste for the development of the biomed technology sector. The aquaculture industry is also an important potential buyer regarding the zero-waste fish feed.
On the Aeolian islands, a substantial part of the economy relies on tourism and the restaurant sector. The Aeolian Hotel Federation represents 75% of the hotels on the island of Lipari, all of which providing catering services to satisfy the official statistic of over 500,000 overnight stays on the island every year. The potential fish waste from restaurants in Sicily is much higher as it takes into consideration the 12 million overnight stays from tourism on the island every year. The tourist figures for Malta are similar to Sicily, boasting over 14 million overnight stays on the island.
What waste! And currently it just gets thrown away!
Estimates suggest that the global biotech drugs market was worth over $289 billion in 2014 and projected to grow to $445 billion dollars by 2019[1]. Novel collagen sources and the huge amount of interest currently being generated by research and development in regenerative medicine and wound healing are boosting market growth. The collagen market alone is expected to be worth over $9 billion dollars globally by 2023.
The Business space will identify a number of potential target market categories for the BAMs based on the bioactive properties they display and screening for functionalities.
The business space is about developing business models based on market analysis and the local economic context.
Business modeling for BAMS and fish feed markets: Business modelling is a fundamental part of the lab. It is about showing how the new technology can work to help enterprises grow in a real context.
The business space shows enterprise how the products and services can be scaled up financially and it provides the opportunity for B2B meetings with an interested end buyer in the pharmaceutical, nutraceutical and cosmetics industries or fish farming industry. The business models highlight the impact that the production of BAMs/marine collagen and other Bythos products can have on the value chain as a whole by extending the production line, providing a means of diversification to enterprises, savings through reductions in organic waste management and the impact of incentive schemes.
Feedback for biotechnology products: the development of the business plans, the interaction between the local enterprises and the business experts during the production of the commercial exploitation plans should provide valuable feedback to the researchers. Financial feasibility information gained by talking to local enterprise is invaluable. Biotechnology procedures will necessarily need to conform to financial sustainability requirements for the enterprise, if enterprises are to adopt the technologies.
influencing organic refuse disposal methods: currently on Lipari, as on the other smaller islands, organic refuse is separated and collected twice weekly by a refuse collection enterprise. Organic refuse is classified as ‘special waste’ and, as a consequence, has high disposal costs. The project brings alternative methods of using fish waste to the attention of organic refuse collection services. Disposal could be redirected towards the production of the BAMs /marine collagen and eco-innovation fish feed.
[1] Deloitte 2016 Global life sciences outlook 2014
Site of the Bythos Biotechnology and Business spaces at the Department of Fisheries Aquaculture Research Centre, Fort San Lucjan, Marsaxlokk, Malta:
A course taking place in the Bythos Business and training Space
Fort San Lucjan, Marsaxlokk, Malta
THE ENVIRONMENTAL AND THE SOCIAL
Environmental impact
The project will look at Life-cycle assessment (LCA) and environmental impact assessment (EIA) of BAMs extraction and zero-waste fish feed, the impact of waste on the environment, awareness raising needs and how the project can contribute to mitigating the impact of the waste. A special focus will be on the context of smaller islands as the issue of waste disposal is particularly pressing on small and medium sized islands such as Malta and the Aeolian islands. It is also an aspect which is highly replicable as a management model in other regions. The University of Malta will lead this activity in collaboration with the Distretto PTCM.
Safeguarding the environment
Bythos for the environment means
- optimizing the use of natural resources;
- reducing the amount of organic waste that an enterprise in the fish or fish product/food service sector needs to dispose of (such a reduction will reduce waste management costs to the enterprise and increase competitiveness);
- reducing organic waste management costs to the local community (an aspect of particular concern to island economies) and reducing the effects on the environment due to waste disposal and due to pollution caused by transport (both Malta and the smaller Sicilian islands transport their waste to other areas at considerable financial cost to the community and cost to the environment in the form of pollution from transport and pollution from disposal)
- reducing the many knock-on effects caused by the need for the Maltese fish-farming industry to import fish feed from abroad to satisfy demand (the fish feed currently used is often highly pollutant to the waters around Malta).
Governance – This activity addresses the development of incentive plans for local waste management, and analysis of costs/saving to the local community and to the individual enterprise from zero-waste measures. It involves working with local authorities to see what incentive strategies are feasible.
The Comune of Lipari as a local authority body will work closely with the Distretto PTCM for Sicily and the Ministry of Fisheries will be the driving force for Malta. Partners will seek common ground for incentives and waste disposal. A Model procedure for organic refuse (fish waste) collection, including incentive schemes, will be examined.
Model procedures for organic refuse (fish waste) collection including incentive schemes
Following consultancy with local authorities and local waste management organizations or enterprise, models will be developed on how the refuse collection of fish waste could be organized based on needs linked to the production of BAMs/collagen and fish feed formulation requirements.
Best practice methods for storage of the fish waste between production of fish waste and collection (maximum storage times and min/max temperatures to ensure BAMs extraction procedures or quality are not affected) and assessment of storage means (cold storage canisters, pre-treatment requirements, evaluation of cold storage transport) will all be examined.
Potential impact on communities: equal opportunities, social inclusion and socio-economic impacts.
Although it is difficult to perceive the effects of project results on the local community, Bythos will estimate the effects that the adoption of the collagen extraction and fish feed could have on the local community in terms of strengthening the position of women and young people in the community (women-managed SMEs and SMEs with young management) and in terms of increasing the need for highly qualified graduates/PhDs (young university graduates and/or researchers in the field of biotechnologies or business) in order to counteract the brain drain phenomenon and reduced socioeconomic condition of professionals.
SYNERGIES
An essential mission of Bythos is to facilitate synergies between stakeholders but also between projects with similar or complementary aims.
This could be with other labs or projects within the domain of biotechnologies for human health/blue growth, other Interreg projects aimed at blue, green or circular growth, and environmental sustainability.
Please get in touch if you think your project or collaboration could be a synergy partner with Bythos.
Later this year, Bythos will be applying for adherent membership to the European Network of Living Labs (ENOLL).