The first day of the Fish Waste for Profit conference brought together innovators in the fish sector to discuss key topics in the by-product space.
The day opened with a welcome from the Founder and Chair of Icelandic Ocean Cluster, Thor Sigfusson who highlighted the importance of the valorisation of fish by-product as it becomes the most expensive part of the fish. This was followed by a keynote panel on impactful partnerships for 100% Fish. Alexandra Leeper, David Naftzger, Kristian Ottesen and Kara Brydson discussed how collaborative relationships can accelerate full utilisation, setting the scene for the day and bolstering the importance of community in the sector.
Delegates were then invited to explore 100% Fish value chains including the harvesting of zooplankton with Matis, transforming fish blood with Salmonics LLC, understanding your company’s potential with Regal Springs and using 100% of available fish waste with Pretio.
Resilience was the word of the day in the first session of the afternoon, Going from Great Research to a Product on the Market, as Founder and CEO of Kerecis, Fertram Sigurjonsson discussed the challenges of bringing innovative ideas to the market. ‘Don’t be afraid to dive into the market’ he said of developing a new product, adding that it’s ‘easy to get stuck in the entrepreneurial product development stage’. This sentiment continued as we heard about what was driving innovation in the market from Runar G. Solstad of Nofina, Francis Desilets-Mayer of Merinov and Nicolas Degroot or KorallionBio.
To finish day 1, we dove into futureproofing and advanced technology, including digital twins and virtual prototyping in the seafood industry, developing opportunities for by-products from Scottish Seafood, technology efficiency, and making zero waste traceable and responsibly sourced.
