Marine Biotechnology securing Food supply

Marine Biotechnology is essential to satisfy the growing demand for high quality and healthy products from fisheries and aquaculture in a sustainable way. The growing demand for marine food will need to be increasingly delivered through intensive aquaculture. Rapid biological and biotechnological progress in the last decade has resulted in a more efficient and environmentally responsible aquaculture and a greater diversity of marine food products.

Marine Biotechnology applications in aquaculture can enhance the sustainable supply of high quality and healthy food.

Marine Biotechnology has contributed significantly to increasing production efficiency and product quality, to the introduction of new species for intensive cultivation and the development of sustainable practices through a better understanding of the molecular and physiological basis for health, reproduction, development and growth, and a better control of these processes. However, commercial aquaculture continues to face challenges in understanding and controlling reproduction, early life-stage development, growth, nutrition, disease and animal health management and environmental interactions and sustainability.

Examples of Marine Biotechnology research for sustainable Food supply

• Marine derived food additives
• Marine derived nutraceutics
• Marine derived E-numbers
• Marine biotechnological progresses in aquaculture

Research priorities and objectives

Overarching research target:

Development of food products and ingredients of marine origin (algae, invertebrates, fish) with optimal nutritional properties for human health.

Key research priorities:

• Develop innovative methods based on -omics and systems biology for selective breeding of aquaculture species;
• Develop biotechnological applications and methods to increase sustainability of aquaculture production, including alternative preventive and therapeutic measures to enhance environmental welfare, sustainable production technologies for feed supply, and zero-waste recirculation systems;
• Integration of new, low environmental impact feed ingredients to improve quality of products and human health benefits.