Funding Innovations: Sustainable Transformation of Seafood Waste in Nova Scotia

Waste disposal is an increasing challenge for the seafood industry in Nova Scotia. The leftovers from seafood processing, such as shells from lobsters and crab, are costly to dispose of and have slow biodegradation rates within compost facilities. However, seafood waste is very rich in high value ingredients and if properly processed, can be a value-added ingredient in many different products and processes.

Viewing seafood waste as a valuable resource, Dr. Beth Mason, founder of Skaldyr Inc, developed an environmentally friendly fermentation process. This process transforms seafood waste into high-value ingredients that are used in the manufacturing process of new products. The Skaldyr process is innovative in several ways: it does not utilize harmful chemicals in its extraction process, nor does it generate any toxic by-products. Importantly, the process generates no additional waste, all of the seafood waste used in the process is converted to valuable, marketable products.

Skaldyr is currently working towards establishing the first commercial scale production plant to produce natural ingredients from seafood waste in Nova Scotia. The process will produce three end products: chitosan for prebiotics and plant biotic markets, calcium lactate as bioavailable calcium for layer hens, and marine peptides for pet and livestock antioxidant and glycosaminoglycan markets. Once fully operational, Skaldyr anticipates processing between 1,200 – 2,900 tonnes of waste per year.

Divert NS is providing $200,000 in financing under the Value-Added Manufacturing Program to Skaldyr to support their processing facility. Apart from the environmental benefits to the seafood processing industry and other industries, the plant will provide new job opportunities in Nova Scotia once it becomes operational.