Minimising waste and maximising the socio-economic value of fish

The six founding members of the Namibia Ocean Cluster and three associate founding members signed a commitment to minimise waste and maximise the socio-economic value of the fish harvested from the Namibian fisheries sector in Walvis Bay.

The signing marks a significant stage in preparing the cluster to become a legally registered non-profit in Namibia.

The founding members are made up of leading Marine Stewardship Council (MSC)-certified hake fishing companies Embwinda, Hangana, Merlus, Novanam, Pereira, and Seawork, while the non-fishing associate founding members are the Fisheries Observers Agency, Namibia Nature Foundation, and Sam Nujoma Campus, University of Namibia. The nine founders represent a wider group of people who have supported the development and innovation activities of the Ocean Cluster over the last three years.

According to the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations, an estimated one-third of seafood is lost, and reducing this loss has been identified as a priority action for meeting the Sustainable Development Goal target 12.3 of halving food loss and waste by 2030.

The Namibia Ocean Cluster, supported by the World Economic Forum’s Ocean Action Agenda, has been created to bring together the seafood sector and allied stakeholders with the mission of maximising the utilisation of all seafood harvested.

The cluster’s goal is to promote innovation, research, and markets for fisheries by-products while enhancing socio-economic benefits.

The pre-competitive, collaborative forum is the latest national chapter in a global movement for “100% fish” to cut seafood loss and waste, initiated in Iceland with Alaska, New England, and Denmark also included.

Pierre le Roux, the first chair of the cluster explained that the cluster had been in development for three years.

“We are proud to be the first African and first Southern hemisphere cluster in this global ‘family’ and look forward to getting to know the sister clusters working on increased 100% fish better in the future, leveraging each other’s expertise. Our collective intent is to create a safe, pre-competitive forum where we can collaborate to maximise utilisation of all fish harvested from Namibian fisheries while enhancing socio-economic benefit.”

While the cluster is currently driven by the hake industry and is open to all fisheries in Namibia, it is hoped that more companies representing a variety of seafood will join to collaborate.

“We look forward to more associate members joining who can bring relevant expertise to enable full utilisation on future by-product projects. Organisations in the cosmetics and pharmaceutical sectors are much welcomed as we discover additional opportunities for the use of fish that we have not explored before. With new products being developed, it is expected that start-up companies will be generated.”

Le Roux said that nutrition and food security are critical.

“Capturing more nutrition and repurposing that in socio-economically viable ways, be that for direct or indirect human consumption, is our focus. The long-term impact of industry shifting to circular economic models will result in increased food production and nutrition security, increases in local employment, and a more efficient use of marine resources, contributing to several global environmental and social goals.”

The cluster will be represented at the United Nations Ocean Decade Conference in April, joining the panel on seafood loss and waste solutions.

The Iceland Ocean Cluster, leader of the 100% fish movement, has been a strong supporter of the project, advising on the development of the cluster and sharing their own experiences on 100% fish utilisation. The project has produced several reports that outline the process used to develop the Namibia Ocean Cluster and investigate by-product opportunities. The models in this process are replicable for other regions and fisheries and can be found here for any group looking to investigate seafood circularity in their context.

Much of the identified opportunity in by-product utilisation reflects similar situations in other global fisheries.

Matti Amukwa, the chair of the Confederation of Namibian Fishing Associations, said that it is good to see established fishing companies take the lead in the initiative.

“They represent a significant portion of the hake fisheries sector and also the monk fish sector. By working together, they can achieve what they could not on their own, and this really opens the opportunity to start to grow the Namibian fishing industry.”

Amukwa emphasised the importance of the fishing industry to the country.

“It is an important contributor to the GDP as well as creating thousands of jobs and providing nutrition. By coming together, these companies and the associate members can start addressing the big issue of working towards zero waste in the fish we harvest. This is opening a whole new opportunity to the fishing industry that can help add greater value, create more jobs, and encourage entrepreneurs. I see an opportunity for the monk fish sector to explore full utilisation while the horse mackerel fishery may be able to find ways to increase value and capture more nutrition.”