A school of mackerel.
Photo: Adobe Stock.
The Norwegian Seafood Research Fund (FHF) has allocated NOK 6 million (approximately €550,000) to a large-scale project to test technology for treating process water in the pelagic industry.
According to FHF, the pelagic industry generates large volumes of wastewater, affecting both the seafood processing sector for human consumption and the part of the pelagic industry dedicated to the production of fishmeal and fish oil.
Meanwhile, the EU Industrial Emissions Directive (IED) and the corresponding Best Available Techniques (BAT) conclusions set requirements for the discharge of organic matter from the seafood industry.
In the past, other initiatives achieved a reduction of more than 90% in total suspended solids (TSS) using various small-scale water treatment technologies, with mechanical separation showing promising results.
Now it is time to test these systems on a large scale over several seasons at Norwegian plants dedicated to the production of pelagic fish. This will make it possible to identify and map seasonal variations and measure the purification efficiency.
Last March, Norway’s Ministry of Trade, Industry and Fisheries announced a reduction in market fees for pelagic species, with the aim of easing pressure on the country’s fisheries sector.
The fee applicable to pelagic species, including herring, mackerel, capelin, blue whiting and sturgeon, will be reduced from 0.5% to 0.3%. The decision follows a request from Seafood Norway and a subsequent consultation process carried out over the winter.