Process synthesis and industrial scale up of sea cucumber extraction process in northern remote regions for multiple applications

The Lower North Shore of Quebec is a region rich in history, culture and resources. Unfortunately, the regional economy was, in the past, primarily based on fishing. When communities had to deal with the closure of the cod fishery as well as various reductions in crab quotas, the region experienced a major economic disruption. Three (3) of the five (5) municipalities of the Lower North Shore are among the most devitalized in the province of Quebec. Citizens have therefore mobilized and launched a movement to diversify the economy by seeking viable non-timber forest resources.

Over the past decade, socio-economic actors, associations and businesses on the Lower North Shore have invested in their knowledge base to develop non-timber forest products (sixty-five (65) species have been identified to date), and have completed three (3) surveys on the quantities of wild non-timber forest products that would be available for harvesting (i.e. wild berries, peat and algae). Based on this knowledge, they developed their first line of products made from wild berries (crowberry). A processing plant was actually built and production began in December 2016.

Since then, two (2) researches have been conducted on seaweed and crowberry to improve the knowledge of local resources and to help develop exploitation strategies. Now, the region is ready for the next step, which is to develop new bio-based products from local biomass to position their region in the emerging bioeconomy. This growing industry is under the management of various entities such as Shore Grow, the Lower North Shore Bioproducts Solidarity Cooperative and Aquilon.

Shore Grow and other local key players plan to diversify products from their wild berries and other biomass such as seaweed and sea cucumbers at this facility. Sea cucumbers and their collagen present an interesting market opportunity not only for the Lower North Shore, but also for Quebec as a whole. With the support of our industrial partner (Shore Grow) and our research partners (UQTR and CRBM), we are looking to develop commercial collagen from sea cucumbers through an extraction process, which could be sold and used in cosmetic products such as skin care and creams.