The Consortium
HOLOSUSTAIN's consortium integrates currently 7 partnering Institutions; concretely, 3 Research and Development, 3 Industrial partners (Fisheries and Processing of Sea cucumbers) and one Biotechnology cluster, representing local Industry, from Norway, Iceland and Canada. The research groups involved include key experts in the field of Ocean Science, Sea Cucumber Biology and Ecology, Biopolymer and Bioactivity Characterization in these organisms.
MØREFORSKING
ROLE IN THE PROJECT: Coordinator
MFA has a long history within applied research and has developed a strong standing in the marine industry and as a partner for regional industry and commerce. MFA conducts research along the entire marine value chain, from ocean resources to marketing in the export market. MFA also has a comprehensive network covering other research institutions both nationally and abroad. Important research areas include sustainable management and harvesting of marine resources, impact on the climate, quality of seafood, welfare for living marine organisms, exploitation of new marine resources, 100% exploitation of raw materials, chemical and biochemical analysis, health benefits of marine proteins and consumer markets. The institution has various laboratory infrastructures, including a laboratory for analytic biochemistry and a facility for live marine organisms.
MFA will contribute to all work packages in the project providing knowledge in diverse fields related to sea cucumber studies including compound extraction, obtention of bioactive protein hydrolysates and sea cucumber life cycle studies. Further, MFA will provide expertise in meta-analysis and human nutrition trials for the database building. As project coordinator MFA will follow the correct realization of the project’s activities according to the timetable and build the project’s webpage. MFA will organize correct project dissemination in collaboration with the Blue Legasea cluster and the rest of the project’s partners.
In WP1, the second international workshop will be hosted by Møreforsking Ålesund. The workshop will include marine biotechnology topics focusing on sea cucumbers and the possible applications for food, biomedicine such as novel nanotechnological materials, peptide drugs, etc. taking into consideration the sustainability of this sector.
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MATIS
ROLE IN THE PROJECT: Partner
MATIS has played a leading role in many national and international R&D and innovation projects, including FP7, Horizon2020, and BBI programs, and has an ongoing fruitful global cooperation with many of the largest food and ingredient companies, many SMEs and entrepreneurs, as well as universities and institutes. MATIS is also a core partner in the recent EIT Food KIC program.
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NCE BLUE LEGASEA
ROLE IN THE PROJECT: Partner
NCE Blue Legasea platform will contribute to disseminate the project's activities and the new sea cucumber network through our established communication channels, newsletter, and social media channels as well in the relevant workshops to be organized within the project’s framework. Thus the cluster will contribute to the creation of novel business opportunities for the project’s partners and for the NCE Blue Legasea members.
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AURORA SEAFOOD EHF
ROLE IN THE PROJECT: Partner
Aurora Seafood counts currently with an important EU Funding contribution for the TOPBALAT project - an integrative initiative (tackles fishing, automated processing, and distribution) to establish for the first time in Europe an advanced SC value chain. The innovation of TOPBALAT lies in the SC-specificity of the technology, and the way the novel gear technology components set up a value chain for the whole business. The project’s results will allow other companies to tap on this market with the introduction of European processed dry SC at competitive prices in the Asian market. AURORA will commercialize after finalization of the project dried whole fully processed SC and the technology to harvest and produce it. The technology developed by Aurora Seafood targets users such as seafood companies in Norway, Scotland, etc. in view of establishing strategical collaborations and promoting NORA region and EU market capacity internationally.
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MEMORIAL UNIVERSITY
ROLE IN THE PROJECT: Partner
Annie Mercier is a Professor and current Deputy Head at the Department of Ocean Sciences (Memorial University), who has been studying sea cucumbers worldwide for over 25 years, including through collaborations with international organizations (FAO, IUCN) and various universities. Together with her long-time partner Jean-François Hamel (SEVE), she has produced some 40 publications on the ecology, biology, trade, conservation, and fisheries/aquaculture of sea cucumbers. Since 2008, the team has been partnering with the provincial/federal government and with industry collaborators on sea cucumber research in Atlantic Canada, through programs funded by the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC), the Ocean Frontier Institute (OFI), the Research Development Corporation (RDC) of Newfoundland & Labrador, Fisheries & Oceans Canada (DFO), the provincial department of Fisheries & Aquaculture (DFA) and the Canadian Centre for Fisheries Innovation (CCFI).
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QUIN-SEA FISHERIES
ROLE IN THE PROJECT: Partner
Since the company is involved/ interested in advancing its sea cucumber fisheries and export activities it is looking for novel industrial partners. The participation of QUIN-SEA Fisheries is previewed in all networking activities as part of WP1 as well as in the activities related to the exchange of personnel among the business partners of the project – WP2, milestone 2.1. The company will contribute to the consortium of HOLOSUSTAIN its extensive experience in international trade as well as sea cucumber processing.
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C Food Norway
ROLE IN THE PROJECT: Industrial Partner
C Food Norway will contribute significantly to HOLOSUSTAIN’s WP1 and WP2 by participating in the international workshop to be organized in the project’s 2nd year, in the exchange visits with Icelandic and/or Canadian industrial contacts, by providing data related to fisheries for the establishment of a sea cucumber value chain in Norway. C Food Norway has knowledge along the whole value chain, from production, marketing and sale of new raw materials and products.
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