CTAQUA Joins European MARMADE Project to Develop Sustainable Aquaculture Ingredients

El Puerto de Santa María, Spain, 26 February 2025 |

MARMADE - CTAQUA

The Andalusian Centre for Aquaculture Technology (CTAQUA) has announced its involvement in MARMADE (MARine biomass valorization for food and fEd ingredients), a pioneering European project aimed at developing sustainable, high-value ingredients for animal and fish feeds from marine biomass. This initiative primarily focuses on utilizing crustacean waste and algae to find circular and sustainable solutions for the aquaculture industry.

According to CTAQUA’s latest newsletter, the project is led by the University of Camerino, in Italy, and involves a consortium of 11 partners form eight European countries. CTAQUA, alongside the University of Granada, will represent Spain in this significant endeavor.

Erik-jan Malta, Director of Applied Research and Innovation at CTAQUA, highlighted the centre’s vital role in the project. They are tasked with sourcing the biomass through “circular processes and sustainable cultivation”. He noted, “this responsibility is crucial for the development of the project’s other work packages.”

CTAQUA will particularly focus on harvesting green algae biomass, which proliferates in the discharges from aquaculture businesses. Meanwhile, other partners will work on different macroalgae species or crustacean shell waste. Moreover, Malta added, “we will also handle the production and assessment of new functional feed formulations for aquaculture, utilizing compounds extracted from the harvested biomass.”

“MARMADE is a particularly exciting project for our centre. It can be seen as a continuation of the BIOSEA project, which concluded in 2020. We will be advancing cutting-edge extraction methods and exploring other biomass sources like crustacean shells-currently underappreciated sources of prebiotics/postbiotics, vitamins, peptides, oligosaccharides, fats, emulsifiers, and digestibility enhancers,” Malta explained.

Maria del Mar Agraso, CTAQUA’s General Director, affirmed the project’s significance: “MARMADE champions circularity by leveraging all the biomass from production processes and showcases our versatility as a technological hub and leader in aquaculture innovation.”

The project is set to commence in September and will span four years. MARMADE is funded by the Circular Bio-based Europe Joint Undertaking (CBE JU), an institutionalized European partnership between the European Union and the Bio-based Industries Consortium (BIC).