THE FUTURE FISHING HARBOUR - sustainable use of the silver of the Baltic sea.

The Baltic Sea´s fish stocks are declining, mainly due to unsustainable fishing dominated by large catch volumes with low value added. Less than 15% of Swedish catches in the Baltic Sea are used for human consumption, the rest are used for fishmeal. However, there is a societal desire to increase seafood produced in Sweden into the diet.

Hence, there is a need to find new and sustainable solutions to produce seafood products through a higher resource utilization of marine resources.

The municipality of Simrishamn together with Lund University, Kristianstad University and Skillinge Fisk-Impex AB want to create a fishing port of the future.

A fishing port based on sustainable fishing within the boundaries of the ecosystem, including a strong value-creating processing chain where every part of the fish and residual streams is processed into different products and/or valuable substances.

The project aims to create at least one new innovative food product each from herring and sprat (called the silver of the Baltic sea), as well as lay the foundation for developing high-value products from the residual streams.

Today´s national fisheries management and quota distribution constitute an obstacle to achieve a balanced ecosystem with a sustainable fishery.

The project aims to be a model and inspiration for how sustainable local fishing and processing can create food supply, innovation without depleting the resources of the Baltic Sea.