Project goals
BlueMusselFeed is aiming to increase Norway’s self-sufficiency in food production by harvesting and circulating resources from aquaculture. The project will establish new raw materials based on mussels by developing processing methods, carry out feeding tests on Norwegian poultry and study the quality of the meat.
The blue mussel is a natural cleaner and a good protein source and using mussels in animal feed can recycle the absorbed nutrients back in our food chain. Utilizing blue mussel as a replacement for imported feed ingredients can also reduce climate emissions from Norwegian poultry.
Background
The project BlueMusselFeed has sprung out of the Land meets ocean – a crossover initiative between NCE Seafood Innovation, NCE Blue Legasea, Biotech North, NCE Heidener Biocluster and Innovation Norway.
BlueMusselFeed applies to an announcement by the Norwegian Research Council, asking for sustainable feed for fish and land animals. By collaborating across green and blue sector, this is an innovation project which connects people throughout the whole value chain – from suppliers to buyers.
The industry partners in the project are Fiskå Mølle, Lerøy Ocean Forest, Eide Fjordbruk, Nordforsk, Animalia and Nortura.
Progress
The Research Council of Norway awarded 11 million in funds to BlueMusselFeed in October 2022, and the participants in the project will start with blue mussel processing, feed production and blue mussel production in 2023.
Hilde Schøyen from Fiskå Mølle presented the project on our focus group meeting in May 2023, read about it here.