Innovations to prevent and reduce fish loss and waste
Project aim
The James Hutton Institute is taking part in LOWINFOOD, an EU-funded multi-actor project aimed to design low-waste food value chains through the demonstration of innovative solutions to reduce food loss and waste. Within LOWINFOOD, we lead the Work Package 4: “Innovations to prevent and reduce fish losses and waste”. Our work focuses on the potential for making the best value of seafood products and by-products ensuring that little gets wasted and higher profits can be made. To this end, we have initiated a voluntary dialogue between supply chain stakeholders and are recruiting a variety of organisations (e.g., trade associations, port and harbour authorities, fishing companies, primary and secondary processors, retailers, processors of other seafood by-products, etc.). In collaboration with these stakeholders, we aim to identify measures, including recommendations for policy interventions, to reduce the quantity of unwanted food waste throughout all stages of the chain, and identify any areas with potential for higher economic value for the Scottish seafood industry.
Interviews with key stakeholders and focus groups in the dialogue will inform where the hotspots of waste are in the seafood supply chain, the needs of supply chain stakeholders, and the current and future ability to innovate to address this problem. Thus far, one of the key challenges that the fish and seafood sector is facing in terms of food loss and waste is that, despite the supply chain being efficient in using products and by-products, fish is a highly perishable good. Other sources of waste that we have identified include unwanted catch, short-term mismatch between supply and demand for products, and the geographic dispersion of companies in Scotland.
Stakeholder Engagement
We are recruiting representatives from throughout the fish supply chain, from those catching the fish to those selling it to the end consumer. The Hutton LOWINFOOD team would like to hear what, if any, unwanted waste occurs in each individual seafood supply chain and if there are any existing methods to manage, reduce, or prevent this. We are in the process of conducting interviews with key stakeholders and intend to run in-person focus groups in both Peterhead and Fife. The final stakeholder event will be a networking style workshop in which we aim to exchange details of those who produce unwanted waste or by-products and those who have potential use for these wastes in an attempt to further reduce waste in the fish supply chain and create value.
About the project
If you are an actor in the Scottish fishing industry (e.g., fishermen, fish processors, port authority, vessel owner or agent, etc.) then please get in touch. We would love to hear your views and will value any input you can offer. We would also like to invite you to join us at one of our engagement events. We are holding two focus groups, one in Peterhead and one in Fife, and plan to host a networking event-style workshop to facilitate connections between producers and users of waste. Even if we plan to hold all of these events in person, virtual engagement will also be possible along the project.
If you are a member of the public and would like to know more, or an academic institute that would like to hear more about or engage with the project, please feel free to email us using the contact details below.
Someone else? No problem! Please feel free to email us at one of the addresses below with your questions or queries, we are always happy to discuss our work and the LOWINFOOD project as a whole.
What do you get out of being involved?
The project aims to achieve multiple goals and benefits for its participants:
- Identify the hotspots of food loss and waste in the Scottish fish supply chain
- Reduce waste management and disposal costs
- Increase the visibility of economic, social, policy, and other challenges faced by the sector
- Open a dialogue between varying sections of the fish supply chain and create mutually beneficial connections
- Connect producers and users of unwanted waste in the Scottish fish supply chain with a view to reducing waste where possible
- Promote the Leroma platform, a digital business-to-business marketplace and innovation partner of the LOWINFOOD project that operates at international level and puts in contact sellers and buyers of food products at risk of becoming waste, and get feedback on it’s potential use in the seafood sector
- Help Scotland move towards food waste reduction targets
About the James Hutton Institute and the LOWINFOOD project
We are a group of researchers from the James Hutton Institute in Aberdeen. The Institute is a renowned research organisation based across two campuses, one in Dundee and one in Aberdeen. It delivers research to drive the sustainable use of natural resources and land. It aims to be at the forefront of science for sustainable management, support thriving communities, and deliver greater food and environmental security. It does this by engaging in new ways of working across disciplines in order to deliver the best outcomes for everyone involved.
The James Hutton Institute is one of the 27 research and business partners in the LOWINFOOD project, which is funded by the European Horizon 2020 programme. The project implements various types of innovations which entail technological or behavioural adaptations that tackle food wastage. The innovations span several sectors including fish, fruit and vegetable, and bakery, all characterised by high perishability, but also the food service and household consumption stages in the EU. You can visit the LOWINFOOD website for more information on the project.
The LOWINFOOD WP4 team of the James Hutton Institute are made up of a mixed group of researchers, including Simone Piras, Nazli Koseoglu, Phoebe Somervail and Tareq Mzek. Simone is an agricultural and rural economist, Nazli is an environmental and applied economist and Phoebe is an environmental psychologist.
Contact us
To get in contact with us email: LOWINFOOD@hutton.ac.uk or feel free to phone or WhatsApp the Hutton LOWINFOOD number: 07815 481042.
