Valorisation of marine biomasses transformation byproducts, for bio- and agri-food sector

By 2022, landfill disposal of organic matter should be prohibited in Québec. The marine product factories in eastern Québec produce thousands of tons of co-products annually, mainly crab and lobster shells. Cintech, Merinov and INAF propose to develop a different way of promoting these co-products, in the form of ingredients and high-quality foods with high added value for human and animal consumption. This project will bring together five co-product factories and four food companies that will be able to manufacture and market the ingredients developed in this project and the three research centers involved will pool their forces to ensure that the needs of users and producers are met.

The means of valorization selected will allow us to target large volumes of co-products and cover different levels of technical expertise, making it easier for industrial partners to integrate the processes into their operations. As a first step, the methods for separating the different types of co-products, their stabilization and a first transformation will be identified in order to offer a range of intermediate products. Subsequently, further separation and processing steps will enable the various ingredients to be used by the industrial partners, or incorporated into food products.

The direct economic benefits of this project are considerable. For marine product factories in Québec, the production of intermediate products from stabilized co-products would allow plant operations to be extended beyond the fishing season, which would extend the employment of several hundred seasonal employees. By sparing several thousand tons of organic matter from fields or landfills, by keeping them in the food chain, the project will significantly improve the competitiveness of factories and their environmental performance. Product diversification will also leave the factories less vulnerable to price fluctuations that affect their primary production. For food businesses, this project will provide access to quality raw materials and ingredients of Québec origin, at a reasonable cost, but also to manufacture and offer their customers innovative products, that are original, functional with strong added value.