The world needs a new business model capable of economic growth by decoupling raw materials from natural resources. Thus, the Blue Bioeconomy Pact embraced the challenge of reindustrializing Portuguese industries by integrating blue biotechnology solutions into value chains, enhancing the sustainable use of marine bioresources to increase added value through carbon-neutral innovation.

This Consortium will bring the Ocean to the shelves by investing in 7 sectors – Biomaterials Applications; new paradigm for shellfish production; marine-based textiles; sustainability in the food sector; scale-up of algae production; circular solutions in rations; bioinformatics for the fisheries sector; – and 3 comprehensive projects aimed at accelerating the development of the sector – the creation of a national network of biobanks, a digital platform for the valorization of marine co-products and the promotion of growth and internationalization of startups and SMEs.

In this way, the planned investment aims to:

(i) Boost the development of a cutting-edge industrial economic sector, based on the application of marine bioresources to multiple industries;

(ii) Be the first large sample of the transversal and ecological potential of marine biotechnology solutions;

(iii) Contribute to positioning Portugal in the global context, as a pioneer in a sector that is estimated to reach €200 billion globally in 2030;

(iv) Realize the great opportunity for growth and innovation in sea industries (aquaculture, fisheries, canning) and to differentiate traditional Portuguese industries that are now far from the sea (textiles, cork, fertilizers, human health).