BARBADOS has an opportunity to net more sustainable economic gains from waste generated by the fishing industry.
The recommendation to do so comes in the Update Of Fish Waste Generation And The Potential Contribution To The Circular Economy In Barbados report, which is based on a collaborative study led by Jalisa King, a consultant of the Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations (FAO).
“The results indicate that at the current rate of utilisation, there are 2 958 tonnes of fish waste available for potential use in the fishing industry,” said King and contributing authors including Dr Yvette Diei Ouadi, fishery and aquaculture officer of the FAO Subregional Office for the Caribbean, and Chief Fisheries Officer Dr Shelly-Ann Cox.
“This study gives a baseline of fish waste available for policymakers and investors who would require this data to make educated decisions. With this data, . . . key players could usher Barbados into a transition to a circular economy.”
The updated study comes against the backdrop of research showing there has been an increase in fish waste in Barbados.
“By analysing the estimated waste generated by the landing sites and fish processors, this study has shown an overall marked increase to a total of 3 140 tonnes of waste generated, majority of which is from the landing sites,” the report stated.
“It was expected that the waste generated from landing sites would decrease given the decrease in vessels landing fish and the total landings.”
Researchers believe the increase “could possibly be due to three main factors: the sampling of additional landing sites, the increase in effort from the fishing vessels and under-reporting in the previous study”.
Increase in awareness
“These are possible theories put forward considering the decline in vessels and landings. The study also showed a decrease in waste generated by the fish processors, this is consistent with an increase in awareness and applied knowledge of innovative practices regarding fish waste,” the authors said.
“Many of the existing initiatives from the companies can be both categorised
as waste utilised for human consumption and non-food uses as observed through the applications of minced fish and the fish silage products.”
The report is an update of Fish Silage Production And Use In The Caribbean Feasibility Study For Barbados And St Kitts and Nevis led by the Blue Green Initiative Inc. in 2019.
Officials said those findings “then drove in Barbados a productive initiative on optimised utilisation of fish waste”.
Another study was undertaken by King, Ouadi, Cox and others in 2023 and there was a collaborative effort involving the FAO, Fisheries Division, Ministry of Agriculture and Food Security and the Ministry of Youth, Sports and Community Empowerment “to create a space for young farmers to develop their own fertilisers or feed utilising fish waste collected from the markets and processing plants”.
“If profitable, these products have the potential to be exported and collaborations with Export Barbados and Barbados National Standards Institution could be beneficial to boost economic gains in the blue economy,” the updated study stated.
“This project is an upscaling effort that facilitates the development of young farmers and supports cross-sectoral collaborations for the improvement of the circular economy.”
Recommendations from stakeholders in the fishing industry, including processors, are that the handling of waste should be standard throughout the industry, and a system designed with effective sorting and collecting in mind should be implemented. Another suggestion was to have “a central rendering plant where all the fish waste from the island could be taken to be processed as an alternative to the landfill”. (SC)
