Abertay University is seeking £5 million worth of funding to transform the lives of Vietnamese fishermen – by teaching them to harvest fish waste.
Food waste technology expert Professor Constantinos Stathopoulos is leading a new project that aims to harness waste from the fisheries industry to create usable materials like biodegradable plastics.
A trip to Vietnam saw the Abertay food and drink division leader agree a bid to the Global Challenges Research Fund in partnership with the highly regarded Nha Trang University, on Vietnam’s east coast.
If successful in attracting the funding, which is worth between £4m and £5m, the work has the potential to provide a major boost to Vietnam’s fisheries industry, which exported an estimated £7 billion worth of produce last year.
Professor Stathopoulos said: “This project … makes the most of the catch. When you eat a prawn, 40 to 50% goes in the bin.
“If we can make things out of that the producers can make money and have to throw away less.”
Abertay will spearhead the project, tapping into expertise from its School of Science, Engineering and Technology and Dundee Business School.
The trip to Vietnam also yielded a research collaboration grant worth £20,000 that will see Prof Stathopoulos and Abertay lecturer Dr Jon Wilkin visit Nha Trang in March.
Two of their staff will then come to Dundee for three months each over the summer to strengthen links.
