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Chemical and Civil Engineering team awarded LA Department of Wildlife and Fisheries grant

Dr. Mark Zappi, PE, Professor, Executive Director of UL Energy Institute of Louisiana (EIL) and Endowed Chair in Bioprocessing in Chemical Engineering, and Mr. Wayne Sharp, PE, Instructor in Civil Engineering and Research Engineer with the EIL, have been awarded a Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries grant totaling $48,925.00 for their research entitled “Identification and Assessment of Potential Green, Non-Food-Based Value-Added Co-Products from Louisiana Seafood Processing Wastes.”

Louisiana’s seafood processing industries are increasingly under pressure to generate new revenue streams as global competition have lowered prices. Yet, Louisiana seafood is considered a premier seafood product due to the quality of seafood production and handling coupled with well-regulated processing methods.  Research estimates that two-thirds of the total amount of fish becomes waste. These by-products contain several different potential co-products, such as collagens, amino-acids, and enzymes. Worldwide efforts to utilize more of the Earth’s natural resources has steadily increased over the past few years, with seafood waste bioprocessing becoming a prominent topic of study. These potential co-products fit well into the fast-growing industry sectors of bioproducts and nutraceuticals. Combined, these sectors are approximately a trillion dollar (US$)/year market volume.

Every year, Louisiana produces, on average, more that 850 million pounds of seafood and millions of pounds of seafood waste. Seafood processors have turned their attention to these waste products as potential feedstocks for nutraceutical and bio-based products that will add valuable additional revenue while also enhancing the sustainable assets of Louisiana’s vast seafood industry. This study will be a foundational study on how Louisiana’s seafood industry can emerge as a global leader in co-product generation. It will utilize the many years of EIL experience in this area.

Congratulations to Dr. Zappi and Mr. Sharp!

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