Bythos is delighted to have been invited to produce a Special Issue for the International Open Access Journal Marine Drugs – deadline for submission June 2020

Special Issue Information

Bythos—Biotechnologies for Human Health and Blue Growth—is an Interreg V-I Italia–Malta project which focuses on the transformation of waste from the fisheries sector into products of use for human health.

The marine environment is an extremely precious source of products; however, the extraction of these products and their potential use in industry is not always environmentally or financially sustainable. The fisheries sector, which includes fish processing factories, factory ships, and artisan fishing, could provide a considerable source of fish waste to local economies. In the Mediterranean, oily fish and tuna, which are the main species of interest to the industry, are also extremely rich in active compounds. Today, between 50% and 70% of fish matter is not considered of value for human consumption; the skins, skeleton, viscera, and scales are treated as special waste and incinerated or disposed of directly at sea, with loss of a bevy of valuable products which could help bring sustainability to an ailing fisheries sector. This Special Issue will focus on marine-derived ingredients from fish waste which have a strong circular economy nature and are of particular interest as pharmaceuticals, cosmeceuticals, nutraceuticals, functional foods, and nutritional supplements for humans and animal husbandry.

Topics of interest of this Special Issue include the following:

  • Marine collagen (quality, simplified extraction procedures, etc.)
  • Bioactive molecule-based antibacterial/antimicrobial/antitumor products
  • Innovative applications of BAMs for human health (packaging, shelf-life prolongation)
  • Biomaterials of marine origin
  • Marine-derived functional foods and nutritional supplements
  • Marine natural products with activity against human, animal, and plant diseases

We expect this Special Issue to provide new and exciting procedures and new products derived from fish waste that will contribute to the Blue Economy and its inherent circularity, to human health (also through improved fish health), and to the sustainability of our oceans. We hope to change the way fish waste is considered, bringing to the forefront its true value as a potentially zero-waste resource for the future.

Prof. Mirella Vazzana
Guest Editor