Marine Discards to Value-Added Products: Innovations in Waste Valorization

Every year, the fields of fisheries and aquaculture generate substantial quantities of leftover biomass, including heads, shells, skins, and viscera. Despite the resource richness of these materials, such as proteins, oils, and minerals, much of this biomass continues to be discarded or underutilized, exacerbating environmental pollution and contributing to greenhouse gas emissions. Recent years have seen a paradigm shift, with these “wastes” re-envisioned as valuable renewable resources due to progress in innovative processing methods and green technologies. This evolution is driven by an increasing societal commitment to sustainability, the circular economy, and the pursuit of added-value products that conserve resources and limit ecological impact. Nonetheless, there remain gaps in efficiently converting marine discards into valuable compounds, and many technologies have yet to be fully integrated into commercial practice.

Current research emphasizes the need for interdisciplinary approaches linking biotechnology, chemistry, material science, and environmental engineering to unlock the potential of marine by-products. Studies show promising advances in extracting functional ingredients, developing bioactive compounds, and producing a variety of bioproducts for food, pharmaceuticals, and environmental applications. Despite these successes, many challenges persist, such as scaling up innovative processes, ensuring environmental safety, and developing economically viable solutions. The ongoing debate centres on optimizing value recovery while maintaining ecological responsibility and industry feasibility, highlighting an urgent need for collaboration and knowledge sharing across disciplines.

This Research Topic aims to foster innovative and integrative research focused on transforming marine discards, including fishery by-products, shellfish wastes, and algal residues, into sustainable, value-added products. It seeks to advance both fundamental and applied knowledge by exploring novel conversion processes, functional and bioactive compositions, eco-friendly technologies, and new material applications. Central objectives include inspiring fresh solutions for waste minimization, promoting circular bioeconomy strategies, and showcasing how marine resources can be utilized to their full potential for the benefit of industry, society, and the environment. Interdisciplinary contributions are encouraged to bridge gaps between technological innovation and sustainable practice.

This Research Topic welcomes submissions that explore a broad but defined range of advances and applications in marine waste valorization, with an emphasis on sustainable and practical outcomes. To gather further insights in this domain, we welcome articles addressing, but not limited to, the following themes:

• Innovative bioprocessing and extraction technologies for marine by-products.
• Circular bioeconomy and integrated biorefinery approaches.
• Development and characterization of functional ingredients and bioactive compounds.
• Production of bio-based polymers, materials, and eco-friendly packaging.
• Applications in food, nutraceuticals, health, pharmaceuticals, and cosmetics.
• Environmental impacts and benefits of marine resource utilization.
• Socioeconomic and policy perspectives on marine waste valorization.
• Life cycle analysis, techno-economic evaluation, and scalability issues
• Interdisciplinary strategies integrating biotechnology, materials science, and engineering for value creation.

We encourage submission of original research articles, reviews, mini-reviews, short communications, and perspective articles.

Article types and fees

This Research Topic accepts the following article types, unless otherwise specified in the Research Topic description:

• Brief Research Report
• Data Report
• Editorial
• FAIR² Data
• General Commentary
• Hypothesis and Theory
• Methods
• Mini Review
• Opinion
• ... View all formats

Articles that are accepted for publication by our external editors following rigorous peer review incur a publishing fee charged to Authors, institutions, or funders.

Article types

This Research Topic accepts the following article types, unless otherwise specified in the Research Topic description:

• Brief Research Report
• Data Report
• Editorial
• FAIR² Data
• General Commentary
• Hypothesis and Theory
• Methods
• Mini Review
• Opinion
• Original Research
• Perspective
• Policy and Practice Reviews
• Policy Brief
• Review
• Systematic Review
• Technology and Code

Keywords: Fish Processing Waste, Shrimp Waste Valorization, Fishery Side Streams, Aquatic Biomass, Blue Bioeconomy, Seafood By-Products, Value-Added Products, Sustainable Utilization

Important note: All contributions to this Research Topic must be within the scope of the section and journal to which they are submitted, as defined in their mission statements. Frontiers reserves the right to guide an out-of-scope manuscript to a more suitable section or journal at any stage of peer review.