Innovation in the Irish seafood centre and “blue bioeconomy” has been praised by Minister of State for Fisheries Timmy Dooley during a visit to the Teagasc Ashtown Food Research Centre in Dublin. Mr Dooley met with representatives of Teagasc and Bord Iascaigh Mhara (BIM)to review joint initiatives supporting innovation, sustainability and value growth.
Located on a 30-hectare campus on the outskirts of Dublin, the Ashtown Food Research Centre is home to advanced facilities, including the National Prepared Consumer Food Centre (NPCFC), a biocontainment level 3 food safety facility, pilot-scale processing plants, sensory science laboratories, and nutraceutical research infrastructure.
The NPCFC provides state‑of‑the‑art pilot-scale processing equipment and analytical laboratories that enable companies to develop new products, test technologies, and collaborate with Teagasc researchers on innovation projects.
During a tour of the NPCFC, the Minister was briefed on several major projects demonstrating the potential of marine resources, co‑product valorisation, and sustainable processing technologies.
These included AIMBIO, a €4.5 million Shared Island DAFM/DAERA initiative led by Professor Brijesh Tiwari and Shay Hannon, which is developing all-island marine biorefineries capable of converting marine side streams into high‑value ingredients for food, feed, cosmetics, and bio-based chemicals.
A major component of this project will be hosted at Ashtown, where a new marine biorefinery will be built and NPCFC facilities leveraged to develop scalable biorefinery technologies.
The minister also reviewed IMPRESS, a €5.9 million Horizon Europe project, also led by Professor Tiwari, which is developing sustainable food and non-food products from underutilised low‑trophic species such as roach, sprat, and lumpfish, while also valorising solid and liquid waste streams from fish processing.
Michael Gallagher, BIM Director of Innovation and Development, emphasised the value of coordinated support, saying: “BIM and Teagasc share a commitment to help the seafood sector grow its value in a sustainable way. These projects show how targeted investment and strong collaboration can deliver real benefits for coastal communities and the wider marine economy.”
Further research projects highlighted included work on developing a fish-based biostimulant from underutilised species, in which Teagasc has optimised scale‑up and product assessment.
Research is also progressing on new co‑product processing technologies that convert whole fish and by‑products into high‑quality pastes suitable for value‑added foods, with support from Teagasc expertise in product development, sensory evaluation and BIM.
As part of his visit, Mr Dooley met several of the researchers leading this work, including Dr Maria Hayes, whose research focuses on bioactives, novel proteins and marine‑derived health ingredients. He also engaged with Shay Hannon and members of the wider Teagasc Food Programme teams.
