The Quebec Business and Scientific Environment for Valorization of Marine By-Products - Where Are We in 2014?

Our seas and oceans with their largely unexplored biodiversity provide a high potential for innovation toward the more efficient use of their economic and scientific value in view of sustainable development. The biotechnology allows translating this potential into real products with minimum or no wastage through a complete transformation of marine biomass with a blue biorefinery approach. In Quebec there are several avenues for the development of various technologies for industrial applications. Creative strategies and collaborative approaches with industry are under development in order to direct the valorization of marine by-products towards higher added value products instead of just merely waste. It is clear that these partnerships will be needed in order to accelerate the pace of applied research towards industrial applications for the marine by-products.