The SUBMARINER Network in Denmark
Nowhere in Denmark is more than 50km to the coast, an important factor both in historical trading and in the development of the blue bioeconomy in Denmark. Blue bioeconomic activities are mainly concentrated on seaweed and shellfish with expectations to discovery and bioprospecting for ingredients for cosmetics, food supplements, proteins, enzymes and biostimulants. Denmark is one of the leading providers of fish feed and aqua-technology and technological solutions for land-based fish farming although, ironically, aquaculture provides only 10% of fish and shellfish consumed in Denmark. In 2017, the Danish fish-farming sector was responsible for ca. €208 mio. gross profit (Danmarks Statistik).
The Danish National Bioeconomy Panel, formed of leading companies, researchers and organisations is responsible for advising the Danish government in bioeconomy matters and suggesting concrete ideas in order to support sustainable (blue) bioeconomic growth in Denmark. Guldborgsund Municipality (SUBMARINER Network member and ALLIANCE case partner) has a specific focus on bioeconomy and houses “Bioeconomy Hotspot Guldborgsund”, which in turn has led to the establishment of the consortium “Agri-Aqua Innovation Denmark”, which aims to highlight the potential symbioses between agriculture and aquaculture sectors.
- Population: 5.8 million (as of 2019)
- Area: 42,924 km2
- 8,750 km coastline
- 5 regions & 98 Municipalities (2007)
- 8 Universities
- According to World Bank, Denmark is listed third country in the “Ease of Doing Business” rank, following New Zealand and Singapore.
- Denmark has the 39th largest national economy in the world measured by nominal gross domestic product (GDP) and 60th largest in the world measured by purchasing power parity (PPP) (2019).
- 63% of Denmark used for agricultural and horticultural production, but only 2.5% of all employed people work in this sector, which is highly automated and represented 25% of total commodity exports in 2015. (Wikipedia)
- Since 1945, Denmark has greatly expanded its industrial base and trade, transport and business service sector (where nearly 80% of all employed people work). By 2017 services contributed ca. 75% of GDP, manufacturing ±15% and agriculture <2%. Major industries include wind turbines, pharmaceuticals, medical equipment, machinery and transportation equipment, food processing, and construction.
