The BYTHOS project is a venture set up in Sicily and Malta involving 3 Maltese partners (University of Malta, represented by Prof. Alan Deidun and Prof. Marion Zammit Mangion), Aquabiotech and the Department of Fisheries and Aquaculture (DFA) within the MFA. Within the project, researchers and experts in biotechnology, business and industry worked together with local enterprise, in order to:
Provide technologies, tools and expert skills to increase investment in innovation and research in biotechnology for human health and blue growth,
Develop bioactive molecule (BAM)-based antibacterial/antimicrobial/antitumor products from fish waste at zero waste (fish waste is a potential source of bioactive molecules of interest to the pharmaceutical, nutraceutical and cosmetics industries) – specifically, the labs at the University of Malta managed successfully to extract collagen and OMEGA-3 fish oils from fish waste kindly provided by the DFA, with the quality of these two molecules currently being tested by a cosmetics industry in northern Italy;
Create the means to re-use fish waste, leading to a reduction in the organic waste needing treatment or removal,
Achieve zero waste by turning remaining fish waste into fish feed product for the local fish-farming sectors.
An international company was commissioned by the University of Malta to conduct a socio-economic and environmental impact assessment of the fish waste being deposited within the marine environment as well as of the positive impact BYTHOS can have on such a practice. This project stimulated activity in the following sectors:
the biomedical technologies sector,
the fish farming and fish product industries,
the food services industry
the organic waste disposal management industry.
Territorial challenges common to the cooperation area are:
a reduction in profitability and employment;
an urgent need to take advantage of new opportunities for smart, sustainable and inclusive growth;
a lack of synergic action between research entities and enterprise;
the pressing environmental and financial issue of organic waste disposal, especially sensitive on smaller islands.
The cross-border approach is fundamental, for a number of reasons:
Sicily has the know-how for BAMs extraction, which is being transferred to Malta,
the complementarity of fish species from the two areas is providing a wider source of BAMs of interest to the biotech medical industry to ensure economic profitability,
Malta has a strong fish farming sector which has the know-how for the development and industrialisation of the eco-innovation fish feed to transfer to Sicily.
An integral part of BYTHOS is the communication strategy and stakeholder management strategy:
engagement with the local community,
provision for valuable R&I co-creation activities,
stimulation of innovation in existing products and promoting the design of new products/services,
increasing synergic action between researchers and enterprise.
The BYTHOS ‘BAMs from fish waste’ biotechnology lab is highly innovative, above all regarding the combination of biotechnology for human health and blue growth.
The impact of the lab is both socio-economic and environmental. The processing of fish waste resources to create eco-innovation fish feed (zero waste) will:
create new job opportunities throughout the sector,
extend the value chain,
lead to greater rationalisation of the production process, ensuring a more sustainable use of natural resources.
