A national label for small-scale fisheries products – one way to improve competitiveness

Supply of produce for the seafood and aquaculture sectors is limited while demand is on the rise – surely a formula for quality opportunities for any seafood related businesses. But both fisheries and aquaculture companies are facing key challenges which currently hinder them reaping the full benefits of seafood markets expansion, and even place their sustainability in question.

SUCCESS (Strategic Use of Competitiveness towards Consolidating the Economic Sustainability of the European Seafood Sector) aims to increase demand for EU seafood by raising awareness of the benefits of European production. In their latest move, the project has just published the latest in their suite of documentaries on their website.

The Small Scale Fisheries Platform video, filmed in Brest, France, is called Fish & Changes. It showcases the work being done by a small-scale platform set up in 2013 to try and establish a national label for seafood and fisheries products. It celebrates the work done by the fishermen to invent new modes of operation.

Its proposed label would give consumers the assurance that their fish was caught by a vessel under 12 metres, long using passive gear: lines, nets or pots. The Platform knows that it needs to get its local fishermen on board, but they hope to initiate a snow-ball effect, with the benefit to both the fishermen and the market becoming clear. One clear benefit would be the label’s focus on the promotion of less well-known species. The Platform’s manager Ken Kawahara is aware of the barriers facing him, convincing fellow small fisheries, the market and the consumer. But EU support, through the SUCCESS project is helping him raise awareness of the benefit of such a system and giving his scheme a fighting chance of success.

The project is part of the EU’s Blue Growth Strategy, and is designed to develop state-of-the-art knowledge and results that are directly applicable to the production sectors and also the wider value chain. The outcomes will include scientific support to European seafood producers, and the production of a clear view of the current situation and future developments of the value chain. These videos are just some of the reliable, practical tools for planning and development of seafood products. All work done by the project will take global drivers of seafood supply and demand into account. Boom and bust cycles will be addressed and specific research undertaken to avoid such negative market-based impacts to the industry in the future.

For more information, please see:
project website