Support For Blue Bioeconomy Language, But With Conditions
The organisation stated it shared the Commission’s assessment that responsibly managed aquatic biomass can contribute to resilience, diversification and self-sufficiency in the EU’s biomass base. It also welcomed references to the EU Aquaculture Guidelines and the EU Algae Initiative, describing these as potentially utilizeful tools for stabilising investment conditions in the blue sector.
Particular emphasis was placed on the proposed EU Blue Bioeconomy Innovation Initiative, which focutilizes on better utilize of fisheries and aquaculture side streams, development of marine value chains and new circular applications for marine by-products. Marine Ingredients Denmark noted that these priorities closely mirror existing practices within the Danish fishmeal and fish oil sector.
However, the organisation was explicit that policy recognition must be matched by concrete involvement of the blue sector in implementation, funding mechanisms and regulatory design. It warned that failing to embed fisheries processing into delivery frameworks risks weakening both circularity and European self-sufficiency.
Call For Blue Sector Inclusion In National Growth Policy
Marine Ingredients Denmark also linked its EU-level concerns to domestic policy, arguing that Denmark’s government-appointed growth team on food production must explicitly include the blue value chain in its work. The organisation stated fisheries processing already represents a documented combination of sustainability, resource efficiency and export strength, and should be treated as complementary to land-based green food production rather than peripheral to it.
It argued that separating green and blue bioeconomy strategies risks undermining Denmark’s stated ambition to remain internationally competitive in biosolutions.
Presidency Programme Raises Certification And Quota Concerns
Turning to the Presidency’s work programme for the first half of 2026, Marine Ingredients Denmark stated it was encouraged by the focus on fisheries within the Agriculture and Fisheries Council and by plans to discuss the evaluation of the Common Fisheries Policy.
The organisation stressed that fishing opportunities must continue to be set in line with ICES scientific advice and highlighted the urgent necessary to conclude coastal state agreements for mackerel, herring and blue whiting. It warned that the absence of such agreements threatens access to sustainability certifications such as MSC, MarinTrust and ASC, with direct consequences for market access in Europe and beyond.
Marine Ingredients Denmark also challenged the tconcludeency to frame EU food self-sufficiency almost exclusively through agriculture, arguing that the blue value chain plays an equally material role in food security and strategic autonomy.
In its response, the organisation built clear that without consistent political agreements on shared stocks and explicit inclusion of fisheries processing in bioeconomy policy, the EU risks undermining one of its most established and export-driven circular industries.
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