A fisheries and aquaculture development program implemented by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) is highlighting significant potential to boost these sectors in the Marshall Islands and in four African and South American countries to make them more self-sufficient, creating jobs and preserving biological stock levels.
The countries are the first five of 12 African, Caribbean and Pacific states analyzed by the global fish value chain development program, FISH4ACP. Implemented by FAO, this initiative of the Organization of African, Caribbean and Pacific States focuses on making fisheries and aquaculture value chains more productive and sustainable, with an emphasis on supporting women given their crucial role in fish value chains — the whole process of adding value to the product.
FISH4ACP issued recently its first five reports on these nations, including the RMI. “The purse seine tuna fishery value chain in the Marshall Islands” is a nearly 40-page report that goes into detail about local tuna industry involvement in tuna transshipment and tuna processing, and discusses limitations and options for expanding local involvement in the tuna value chain.
“This initiative marks an important step towards a blue transformation of fisheries and aquaculture in Africa, the Caribbean and the Pacific, benefitting not just fishers and their communities but ensuring that growth goes hand in hand with environmental sustainability and social inclusiveness,” says FAO’s Gilles Van De Walle, Chief Technical Adviser, FISH4ACP.
“We are thrilled to see FISH4ACP moving into action to unlock the potential of fisheries and aquaculture in ACP countries. There is an urgency to boost our fisheries and aquaculture sectors because they greatly contribute to economic growth, decent jobs, and food and nutrition security,” says Cristelle Pratt, Assistant Secretary-General of the Organization of African, Caribbean and Pacific States.
The Marshall Islands is the only Pacific island in the program.
FISH4ACP is being implemented with €47 million ($50 million) in funding from the European Union and the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BmZ).
“The focus on all three aspects of sustainability — the economic, the environmental and the social — sets this program apart. Now that FISH4ACP is entering a new phase, it will be able to strike a balance between production and protection, to contribute towards fair income distribution and decent working conditions and to champion sustainable fisheries and aquaculture in Africa, the Caribbean and the Pacific,” said Leonard Mizzi, the EU’s Head of Unit in Directorate General for International Partnerships.
“We are delighted to see that FISH4ACP is now ready to put its comprehensive value chain approach at work in support of fisheries and aquaculture development. It is key that it takes all players into account, at all stages – from net to plate,” said Hendrik Denker, deputy head of the BmZ Division for Food and Nutrition Security, Global Food Policy and Fisheries.
The publication of its first five reports provides a baseline for supporting the countries in strengthening their fish value chains, increasing self-sufficiency in fish production, creating local jobs and maintaining sustainable stock levels.
The report on the RMI discusses how the Marshall Islands can generate more value and local jobs from the multi-million dollar tuna trade, boosting it to $55 million by 2031 using one type of vessel alone and strengthening its position as a leading hub for tuna through transshipment and containerization, with Marshall Islands-based companies incentivized to shift to new and more efficient loading machines for filling containers with tuna. This will bring down the cost of packing and shipping tuna in containers and allow the fish to be sorted, fetching a higher price.