April 2, 2013 — Jason Whooley, CEO of BIM, the Irish Sea Fisheries Board, is on a mission to change the country’s seafood industry to help it become more competitive, and in doing so to open up new market opportunities.
Irish vessels land more than 40 commercial species and the value of the catch in 2012 was GBP 822 million (USD 1.2 million, EUR 968,000). Two-thirds of this is exported, with 67 percent selling to traditional markets in Europe, which are currently static or declining. Of that, 14 percent goes to Nigeria, 4 percent to Asia, 2 percent to Russia and just 0.2 percent to the United States.
“There are great opportunities on the wider global market, but a recent analysis of the country’s processing capacity showed that the small size and scale of the majority of companies is hampering such development. To turn this round, we have been working on a new long-term strategy, that will enable companies to reach out and grab new opportunities,” explained Whooley.
“The greatest prospects lie in supplying fast growing markets with large centres of population, especially in Asia,” said Whooley. “Our new strategy will help companies to collaborate and to set up joint venture operations and partnerships to enable them to operate competitively in this arena.”
The aim is to scale up to have 1 to 2 entities in each of the shellfish, pelagic, salmon and whitefish sectors with a turnover in excess of EUR 50 million (USD 64 million), supported by a range of smaller companies.
A collective route to market scheme was launched in January and offers grant aid and expert advice on achieving collaboration and increasing competitiveness in export markets.
The scheme follows a pilot undertaken in 2012, in which BIM encouraged the set up of two seafood collectives, which are currently developing new business links in Asia.