AquaTT

INvertebrateIT Open Contest: Discover the Winning Invertebrate-Based Solutions for European Aquaculture at the INvertebrateIT AQUA 2018 Brokerage Event

INvertebrateIT logo

The INvertebrateIT project aims to help aquaculture operators mitigate their current dependence on costly, volatile, and often unsustainable fish feeds, to diversify their business and to contribute to a better management of valuable organic waste and/or new algal substrates for invertebrate production. In November 2017, INvertebrateIT announced its Open Contest to find and support projects and companies across the EU Atlantic Basin with the most innovative solutions for invertebrate production for sustainable fish feeds, competitive aquaculture and integrated waste management.

Whilst many of the eleven high-quality proposals received were found to be investment-ready, three projects stood out to the international jury of four renowned experts, who valued their readiness and potential impact: 

  • EntoGreen (www.entogreen.com), led by Ingredient Odyssey in Portugal, aims to create up to 60 jobs by recycling up to 1000 tons a month of organic waste from maize agriculture by using it to feed insects and subsequently producing high quality proteins and oils for aquafeeds.
  • Project IPATAC, led by InnovaFeed (http://innovafeed.com) in France, whom are commercialising the first insect-fed (black soldier fly) farmed fish in Europe, aims to engage with consumers and investors to fulfil their plans to expand into new regions and species.
  • Project MUSFLOUR, led by Mariscos Punta Sinás (www.puntasinas.com) in Spain, focuses on marine invertebrates and aims to revalorise large quantities of available scraps coming from mussel aquaculture and processing for fish farm feed.

These three projects will now benefit from an INvertebrateIT-led capacity-building process to accelerate and expand their market potential, aiming to implement them into public-private partnerships in EU Atlantic regions. Discussions have been held with each project to identify the support needs that the INvertebrateIT partnership can address, starting by promotion at the Blue Invest event in Brussels (17 May 2018; https://blue-invest-2018.b2match.io/).

Black Soldier Fly Brett Hondow

The black soldier fly (Hermetia illucens) by Brett Hondow

The INvertebrateIT project is also setting up a match-making platform for stakeholders at its project stall and will organise a focused brokerage event at AQUA 2018 in Montpellier, France (25-29 August 2018; www.was.org/meetings/default.aspx?code=Aqua18). Attendees will get the opportunity to hear a pitch from the three winning projects, as well as receive information about other investment-ready projects that have been identified by the INvertebrateIT consortium. Managers and entrepreneurs in the fields of aquaculture, invertebrate production, regional planning and investment for Blue Growth are all welcome to participate.

To learn more, register for the matchmaking platform or take part in the brokerage event, please contact the INvertebrateIT Project Coordinator, Silvia Sarris Sánchez (info@invertebrateitproject.eu). For further information on the INvertebrateIT project, please visit the project website: www.invertebrateitproject.eu.