Consortium: CIIMAR/Portugal; University of Patras, Greece; Nord University, Norway; Cukurova University, Turkey, The Central Fisheries Research Institute, Turkey; University of Udine, Italy, DTU/Denmark; IFREMER/France; CEVA/France; HCMR/Greece; ALGAPLUS/Portugal; PLAGTON

Global population growth and increase in living standards will push up the demand for fish-derived protein in the future. However, resource scarcity (feed, water and energy), environmental impacts, and changes in climate and growing conditions can seriously hamper aquaculture that supplies a significant proportion of human food. New sustainable protein and lipid sources and improved technologies to increase bio-availability of existing sources will be needed to ensure adequate supply of aquafeeds to ensure growth of aquaculture. On the other hand, the growth of the industry has caused environmental concerns. Interestingly, aquaculture effluents can be an excellent medium for algal growth, although they are not usually reused since they contain residual organic compounds, minerals and other micro-pollutants. MARINALGAE4aqua is an innovative research project that targets the development of strategies to increase efficiency of important European farmed fish species (Atlantic salmon and European sea bass) and reduce the environmental impact using micro- & macro-algal biomass as feed ingredients by: 

1. Culturing marine algae under optimized technological processes to remove organic compounds and minerals from fish farm effluents, and producing high value products for aquafeeds while recycling nutrients; thus improving the water body quality and reducing the environmental impact;

2. Identifying novel feed additives to improve fish digestive capacity and nutrient metabolism upon using the selected algae;

3. Improving fish growth and end product quality, reducing time to slaughter and providing a safe and healthy food item with wide consumer acceptance.

MARINALGAE4aqua aims to tackle the sustainability challenges of the aquafeed industry by developing cost-effective and resource-efficient alternatives to FM and FO by providing: a) efficient new processes to valorise selected marine algae that could reduce EU imports of protein and lipid sources and minimize over-exploitation of wild fish stocks, loss of biodiversity and environmental burden and b) high sensory quality, acceptable fish products that meet food safety standards and dietary needs for a healthy life. MARINALGAE4aqua will exploit cost-efficient and environmentally sustainable production and processing technologies to produce algal biomass suitable for inclusion in aquafeeds. MARINALGAE4aqua is innovative and cutting edge - it adopts a multidisciplinary approach, integrating molecular (genomics, proteomics) and traditional tools to address physiological, nutritional and environmental challenges in modern aquaculture – providing state-of the-art knowledge to identify strategies to increase efficiency of farming important European fish species.

Scientific Publications

Batista, S, M, Pintado, A, Marques, H, Abreu, JL, Silva, F, Jessen, F, Tulli, LMP, Valente. 2020. Use of technological processing of seaweed and microalgae as strategy to improve their apparent digestibility coefficients in European seabass (Dicentrarchus labrax) juveniles. J Appl Phycol 32: 3429–3446 https://doi.org/10.1007/s10811-020-02185-2

Batista, S, Pereira, R, Oliveira, B, Baião, LF, Jessen, F, Tulli, F, Messina, M, Silva, JL, Abrue, H, Valente, LMP. 2020. Exploring the potential of seaweed Gracilaria gracilis and microalgae Nannochloropsis oceanica, single or blended, as natural dietary ingredients for European seabass Dicentrarchus labrax. Journal of Applied Phycology. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10811-020-02118-z

Dourou, M, Tsolcha, ON, Tekerlekopoulou, AG, Bokas, D, Aggelis, G. 2018. Fish farm effluents are suitable growth media for Nannochloropsis gaditana, a polyunsaturated fatty acid producing microalga. Eng Life Sci 18: 851-860. https://doi.org/10.1002/elsc.201800064

Gong, Y, Sørensen, SL, Dahle, D, Nadanasabesan, N, Dias, J, Valente, LMP, Sørensen, M, Kiron, V. 2020. Approaches to improve utilization of Nannochloropsis oceanica in plant-based feeds for Atlantic salmon. Aquaculture 522: 735122. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.aquaculture.2020.735122

Gupta, S, Lokesh, J, Abdelhafiz, Y, Siriyappagouder, P, Pierre, R, Sørensen, M, Fernandes, JMO, Kiron, V. 2019. Macroalga-Derived Alginate Oligosaccharide Alters Intestinal Bacteria of Atlantic Salmon. Frontiers in Microbiology 10. https://doi.org/10.3389/fmicb.2019.02037

Pascon, G, Messina,M, Petit, L, Valente, LMP, Oliveira, B, Pryzbyla, C, Dutto, G,Tulli, F. 2021. Potential application and beneficial effects of a marine microalgal biomass produced in a high-rate algal pond (HRAP) in diets of European sea bass, Dicentrarchus labrax. Environmental Science and Pollution Research 28: 62185–62199. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-021-14927-x

Valente, LMP, Custódio, M, Batista, S, Fernandes, H, Kiron, V. 2019. Defatted microalgae (Nannochloropsis sp.) from biorefinery as a potential feed protein source to replace fishmeal in European sea bass diets. Fish Physiology and Biochemistry 45(3): 1067–1081. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10695-019-00621-w

Valente, LMP, S, Batista, C, Ribeiro, R, Pereira, B, Oliveira, I, Garrido, LF, Baião, F, Tulli, M, Messina, R, Pierre, H, Abreu, M, Pintado, V, Kiron. 2021. Physical processing or supplementation of feeds with phytogenic compounds, alginate oligosaccharide or nucleotides as methods to improve the utilization of Gracilaria gracilis by juvenile European seabass (Dicentrarchus labrax). Aquaculture 530, 735914. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.aquaculture.2020.735914

Patent

Valente, LMP, MME, Pintado, SMG, Batista, AMF, Silva, JJA, Faria. Method for Obtaining Proteins or Rich-protein Extract from Algae, Extracts and Uses Therefore, Patent WO/2019/171293. (2019), p. 18. Google Scholar