Thematic Portfolios are designed as a light but effective network for projects addressing similar themes falling under the scope of the Blue Bioresources Intervention Area:

• Thematic Portfolio 1: Innovations and digitalisation for low-impact sustainable small-scale fisheries management in EU sea-basins.
  • This portfolio includes 4 projects: SBEP DORIS, CAFF, OPTIFISH, and NETTAG+
• Thematic Portfolio 2: Innovations for boosting sustainability in marine algae cultivations and circularity in the blue bioeconomy.
  • This portfolio includes 11 projects: SEAGROW, SBEP BIOVAL, SBEP BLUE BIO BOOST, SBEP BLUEBOOST, CIRCALGAE, MARMADE, SBEP SEALGAEPOWER, SBEP SEAREFINERY, SBEP SEAFOODTURE, ALGAEPROBANOS, and ALLIANCE.

The Thematic Portfolio Brochure reflects the expertise and backgrounds represented within the two clusters. It provides an overview of the participating projects, their objectives, as well as short profiles of the researchers involved in the activity.

The Thematic Portfolio action is designed to support the projects in:

• Increasing their visibility at the international level
• Networking, with other projects and quadruple-helix stakeholders
• Identifying new opportunities for cooperation and beneficiaries for their outputs
• Fostering connection to reflect on future collaborations
• Sharing knowledge and data within the portfolio to capitalise on the projects’ results
   

The Thematic Portfolio is part of the Partnership additional activities and will run for two years, from February 2026 to February 2028. 
 

Thematic focus

The Thematic Portfolios fall within the scope of the ‘Blue Bioresources’ Intervention Area, addressed by the majority of projects in the first two Joint Transnational Calls. The themes of the two Thematic Portfolios were identified accordingly:

Thematic Portfolio 1: Innovations and digitalisation for low-impact sustainable small-scale fisheries management in EU sea-basins

Projects in this portfolio specifically cover the following subtopics: 

• Reduction of environmental impacts of small-scale fisheries
• Sustainable management of small-scale fisheries considering the impact of societal costs of stressors such as habitat degradation, pollution, and climate change
• Economic sustainability of small-scale fisheries

Thematic Portfolio 2: Innovations for boosting sustainability in marine algae cultivations and circularity in the blue bioeconomy

Projects in this portfolio specifically cover the following subtopics: 

• Strain development and genetic engineering
• Sustainable, circular and low-impact Algae Cultivation Systems
• Biorefinery and Valorisation of Algae Biomass
• Synthetic Biology and AI Integration
• Economic, policy and social research

Thematic Portfolio Implementation Phases 

The Thematic Portfolio action is structured into five implementation phases, as illustrated in the figure below:

News and Updates

The Thematic Portfolio kick-off took place on February 12th 2026, during the SBEP Week in Bucharest, Romania, and online. The event was held back-to-back with the Partnership’s second Symposium, “Full Sail Ahead towards a Sustainable Blue Economy”. 
The kick-off meeting provided an opportunity to introduce the initiative, its objectives and scope to the selected projects. Project representatives were given the opportunity to present their projects and begin discussing areas of collaboration. began with two complementary keynote speeches from Tobias Troll (Marine Policy Director at Seas At Risk) and Claire Hellio (Professor at Université Bretagne Occidentale), each addressing a portfolio topic

The event started with two complementary keynote speeches from Tobias Troll (Marine Policy Director at Seas At Risk) and Claire Hellio (Professor at Université Bretagne Occidentale), addressing each portfolio topic, respectively.

The next steps will focus on the drafting of the Implementation Plan for each portfolio.