Upcycling fish sludge to sustainable feed material (Up-Sludged)

Currently, 30–50% of fish feed is lost as uneaten feed and waste, generating 275,000 tonnes of fish sludge annually from land-based facilities (hatcheries and smolt) in Norway, alone. This nutrient-rich by-product is currently largely underutilized, mainly directed toward biogas production or incineration. 

The Up-Sludged project aims to increase knowledge on the safety and sustainability of using locally sourced fish sludge as feed for black soldier fly larvae, marine polychaetes and microalgae while addressing legislative barriers that currently restrict the use of fish sludge into the feed-food chain. This entails substantial scientific documentation on the chemical composition of fish sludge, and the risks related to the presence of both chemical and biological hazards in the raw material, and their fate when being processed and used as feed material for low-trophic organisms.

The scientific knowledge obtained will support regulatory bodies in developing new guidelines for using fish sludge as feed. Furthermore, the feed chain needs to be assured sustainable and acceptable for the public, and the project aims to engage industry stakeholders, government and public discussing ethical aspects related to circular food system. The Up-Slugded would reduce dependency on imported feed ingredients, enhance food system resilience, and contribute to Norway’s sustainability goals.

At the SVT, Thomas Völker is task leader under WP5 for task 5.2. Fish sludge; sustainable and desirable future feed production systems, working with SVT colleague Roger Strand. Völker has been involved in research on environmental governance and sustainability transitions on national and European level and has also worked for the EC on issues of participatory and deliberative governance.

This task consists of early and continuous interactions between scientists and actors beyond the research community. It will be conducted through following the research process in project meetings and events, as well as through conversations in semi-structured qualitative interviews. This task also includes engagement activities with stakeholders understood as “extended peer community” in a transdisciplinary fashion. This will allow the project to create spaces for discussing fish sludge in the context of sustainable feed and food production systems. It will bring together members of civil society, regulators, and industry to debate the risks, trustworthiness and desirability of the feed system.