The seafood industry is a significant contributor to the Atlantic Area economy, but it faces several sustainability challenges, including overfishing, pollution, and climate change. The NEPTUNUS project seeks to address these challenges by encouraging stakeholders to adopt more sustainable practices and innovations and promote sustainable development in the seafood sector in the Atlantic Area. It focuses on providing a consistent methodology for eco-labelling seafood products and defining eco-innovation strategies for production and consumption, all under a circular economy approach.
One of the project's key goals is to develop a reliable and robust eco-labelling methodology for seafood products. This will help consumers make informed choices about the environmental impact of the products they purchase. The methodology will consider several factors, including the production process, packaging, transport, and disposal of the product.
Another goal of the project is to promote eco-innovation strategies that can contribute to the circular economy. For instance, the project encourages the use of sustainable packaging materials, waste reduction techniques, and the adoption of renewable energy sources. By implementing these strategies, the seafood industry can reduce its carbon footprint and enhance its environmental sustainability.
NEPTUNUS has published 15 scientific papers and built a robust database for seafood supply chains. This database includes technical, environmental, and nutritional criteria under the life cycle inventories, which promotes continuous improvement of the environmental performance of seafood throughout their life cycle.
Moreover, the project introduced an analytic tool that supports stakeholders to estimate the impact of their activity, such as fishing, aquaculture, or processing. This tool helps stakeholders understand the environmental impact of their actions and encourages them to adopt more sustainable practices.
Overall, their efforts have contributed to promoting a circular economy approach in the seafood sector, encouraging stakeholders to adopt more sustainable practices and innovations. Consumers, producers, processors, and retailers alike can benefit from these efforts, leading to a more sustainable future for the seafood industry.
NEPTUNUS is led by Universidad de Cantabria (ES), has a consortium of 40 partners (associted partners included) and a budget of 2.31 million euros until July 2023.