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Blue Whiting: Reversal of a Challenge |
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Written by B. Tyril
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The amounts of frozen fish landed in the Faroes are huge; but a deteriorating outlook for the blue whiting fishery may force the ports and shipping sector to look for alternative routes to business growth.
MAY 2009 (North Atlantic News). As duly noted by the CIA’s World Factbook, the Faroe Islands is an archipelago “strategically located along important sea lanes in northeastern Atlantic” — a country surrounded by sea, and a culture characterized by marine related concepts of the world. The Faroese are known as a nation of seafarers.
In recent decades, traditional fishing harbors in the Faroe Islands have become increasingly aware of business opportunities linked to various aspects of maritime industries and services. The beginning of this process can be traced to the opening of the Faroese blue whiting fishing grounds to the Russians about three to four decades ago in exchange for cod and other whitefish for the Faroese to catch in the Barents Sea.
Years later, the EU, Norway, and Iceland also became involved in the blue whiting fishery, which eventually, in 2006, came under the regional management of the Northeast Atlantic Fisheries Commission (NEAFC).
Both the blue whiting fishery, largely taking place in Faroese waters, and the Barents Sea cod fishery have generated sources of revenue for businesses beyond the fishing industry itself, not least the port and shipping sector.
However, utilizing opportunities has taken time — in some cases too long for any commercial realization whatsoever. The problem now seems to be that time could soon be running out as the blue whiting fishery is being relentlessly cut back. Parts of the ports and shipping sector only recently managed to become seriously involved in providing services related to transshipment and transit cargo, only to realize that the market could soon be exhausted in terms of tonnage.
Changing scene: From a TAC (total allowable catch) of 2.2 million metric tons in 2007, the blue whiting TAC was drastically reduced in 2008 to 1.3 million tonnes, and then to as little as 600,000 for 2009. Of these 600,000 tonnes — which might be further reduced in the years ahead — the Faroese share is 140,000. The Russians were allotted 100,000 of this share in exchange for Barents Sea cod.
“This situation is not very stable,” an industry insider comments. “The pelagic fleet is hurting because of the cutbacks on their quotas and they will seek to exert their influence in order to reduce the amounts of blue whiting traded for Barents Sea Cod. To whatever the extent they succeed, it will be at the expense of those relying on Barents Sea cod. In any case, it looks as if the amounts of blue whiting landed in the Faroes — whether by the Russians, the Faroese or anyone else for that matter — will continue to decrease for at least the next couple of years.”
According to statistics obtained from the Faroe Islands Fisheries Inspection, some 250,000 tonnes of largely blue whiting from foreign vessels, mostly Russian trawlers and freighters, were being loaded into cold storage or transshipped in Faroese territory in 2008.
That’s a considerable decrease from 2007’s estimated 350,000 tonnes, but still a large amount — larger than some cold stores managers could dream of.
So while there will still be business in handling frozen blue whiting for transit, the risk is very real that dwindling amounts may spell the end of this market in the future — which brings up the question of supplements or alternatives.
One certain trend driven by the rather bleak outlook for blue whiting is defined by the need to maximize the value of each catch. In other words, reduction for fishmeal will become less attractive while utilization for human consumption will become more attractive. Indeed “seafrozen” will be a keyword.
As to the port and shipping sector, some of the Faroese harbors will probably still be fine placing their emphasis on transshipment, cold storage and similar services related to frozen fish from foreign vessels, while those dependent on industrial blue whiting might find themselves forced to consider processing for human consumption.
Others may find themselves compelled to look more at the offshore oil and gas industry.
There are at least two markets of great potential, industry sources point out. The one is attracting the offshore industry West of Shetland — the Faroe Islands is the nearest land, and a competitive supply base here could be well received. The second is the hugely increasing marine traffic from Barents Sea oil and gas. Growing numbers of tankers are steaming along the Faroe Islands, and many of them doubtlessly need services of various kinds — especially if acquainted with relevant offers available from the Faroese.
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