Baltic MUPPETS

Continued eutrophication and shifts in fishing strategies within the Baltic Sea have had considerable impacts on the Baltic seafood industry, mainly affecting coastal communities and rural areas. The Baltic MUPPETS project is at its core an investment in a blue bioeconomy that aims to deliver economically and environmentally viable businesses with a positive socio-economic impact. The project sets out to create a completely new value chain based on small mussels which will enable a new circular economy in the Baltic Sea region.

Due to low salinity, Baltic Sea mussels are often smaller and therefore not always suitable for direct human consumption. In the western Baltic Sea, small mussels are considered a side-stream of market-size mussel production. Nevertheless, mussel meat contains the same amino acid composition as fish meal, and can be used as a sustainable raw material in animal feed. The objective will therefore be to valorize this unused resource through the cooperation of three demonstrators in Sweden, Denmark, and Germany. The project will invest in mussel farms and innovative submerged farming techniques (to avoid damages from ice, reduce costs and increase public acceptance) to create high-value pet food products. BalticMUPPETS will also conduct market research to co-develop business cases for additional products from small mussels. Finally, the project will offer acceleration services to start-ups and SMEs to exploit new market entry points in regional value chains.

Main objectives:

1. Advance and scale submerged mussel farming and harvesting techniques

2. Develop new market-ready technology for mussel farming in the Baltic

3. Develop planning tools/models for optimal sites for sustainable large-scale farms

4. Develop innovative sustainable market products from small Baltic mussels

5. Establish new diversified business models for farms

6. Establish and demonstrate a new process line for valorizing small mussels

7. Mobilize and accelerate start-up and SME innovation capacities and advance new regional value chains.