Million-dollar centre to turn fish waste into profit

specialised centre will soon open to train fisherfolk to better utilise fish silage, not only as an additional income source but also as a way to drastically reduce the amount of fish waste sent to the island’s landfill.

The centre, a collaboration between the Food and Agriculture Organisation and China under its South-South Cooperation initiative, is the product of a $1 million project targeting young farmers to help them understand the benefits of adding fish silage production to their operations.

This announcement came from Dr Yvette Diei Ouadi, the FAO fishery and aquaculture officer, who is secretary of the Western Central Atlantic Fishery Commission (WECAFC), during the launch of the Capacity Building For The Improved Management And Optimised Utilisation Of Fish Waste Project at the Fisheries Division offices.

“The intention is to provide an incubator programme for fish silage production for animal feed and fertiliser, as well as support services to women and youth agripreneurs,” she said. “This demonstrates the catalytic effects of the past two years’ pilot activities involving women fish processors then young farmers/livestock rearers. The centre will be established thanks to the global project ‘Enhancing technical and innovative capacity to accelerate the transformation of agrifood systems in SIDS’, financed by FAO-China South-South Cooperation. The US$500,000 [$1 million] national project will be anchored in the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Nutritional Security and will mostly benefit young farmers.”

Dr Ouadi added that the amount of silage disposed of yearly is a wasted financial opportunity for the island that should be leveraged and developed into feed and other farming products.

The latest FAO study with the Fisheries Division estimated Barbados produces 3 140 tonnes of fish waste from landing sites and processing operations – six to eight tons daily, with much of thrown into the landfill, she said. “An absolute lost opportunity for revenue for fishers, curbing environmental footprints while improving the local feed and fertiliser supply, hence reversing the escalating government import bill.

“By focusing on ensuring the preparedness of the main sources of waste, the small-scale fisheries, so that they take advantage of the opportunity offered by the upcoming National Agribusiness Incubation Centre,” said Dr Ouadi, “the ‘innovative gender responsive and transformative approaches for inclusive, resilient and sustainable agri-food systems’ project aimed to significantly cut the waste, for resilient, equitable and sustainable benefits for all fishers, farmers, consumers, and government of Barbados.”

“Out of every single tonne of waste that goes to the landfill, with proper recycling initiatives, we can have three to five green or alternative jobs,” said Adrian Forde, minister for the blue and green economy. “It is a notable way of putting viable income back into our economic stream. That’s the way we need to go as a government if we are serious about preserving our country and having sustainable development in a meaningful way.”