Pohnpei island, Micronesia.
Iceland Ocean Cluster and Pacific Islands Forum Fisheries Agency have signed a new three-year agreement aiming to support seafood innovation, cut waste and expand commercial opportunities for Pacific fisheries.
The memorandum of understanding, announced by the FFA this month, brings together the two organisations around a shared goal of improving how marine resources are used, with a particular focus on extracting more value from material that is often discarded or underused.
A central area of work will be the fuller use of tuna side streams in the Pacific, as the partners look at how by-products and residual raw material can be turned into higher-value goods rather than going to waste.
“This partnership is about connecting ocean regions, people and ideas in ways that can create practical benefits for communities and the seafood sector,” FFA Director-General Noan David Pakop said. “It gives us an opportunity to learn from global innovation while also exploring what full utilisation and value creation can look like in a Pacific context.”
The two organisations said they would work together on knowledge-sharing, research and innovation projects, education and awareness, and ways of promoting more sustainable harvesting, processing and use of marine resources.
The collaboration will also explore links with FFA’s Pacific Island Tuna Ventures Programme as well as the wider 100% Fish movement, which promotes the use of all parts of seafood to create value-added products.
“There is so much opportunity for seafood knowledge transfer between the North Atlantic and Pacific region, and this partnership with FFA is very timely as we explore how 100% Fish thinking and methods can be adapted to support sustainable value creation in key Pacific fisheries,” said Dr Alexandra Leeper, CEO Iceland Ocean Cluster.
The FFA said Iceland Ocean Cluster’s experience in connecting entrepreneurs, researchers and seafood companies could offer a useful model for the Pacific, as regional stakeholders look for new approaches to blue economy development.
The Icelandic organisation is known for promoting the 100% Fish concept and for operating Ocean Cluster House in Reykjavík, which supports startups and businesses working across marine industries.
The FFA is composed of 17 Members: Australia, Cook Islands, Federated States of Micronesia, Fiji, Kiribati, Marshall Islands, Nauru, New Zealand, Niue, Palau, Papua New Guinea, Samoa, Solomon Islands, Tokelau, Tonga, Tuvalu and Vanuatu.
