Jamaica’s queen conch fishery a cut above all others

The Jamaica Conch Cluster is on track to achieve Marine Stewardship Council (MSC) certification for the conch fishery sector, an endorsement which will put it in a class by itself, following an independent pre-assessment exercise which was conducted between June and July 2021.

This endorsement will distinguish Jamaica’s queen conch (Genus Strombus) fishery as the only MSC certified queen conch fishery in the world, adding economic value and buying appeal to environmentally aware consumers.

This was disclosed during Wednesday’s meeting at the Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries’ Hope Gardens head office of the Jamaica Conch Cluster and other stakeholders, held under the theme, ‘Achieving Economic Benefits Through Marine Stewardship Council Certification of the Conch Fishery of Jamaica’.

Stephen Smikle, principal director, Capture Fisheries at the National Fisheries Authority, explained that Jamaica has always had a very good management system, inclusive of monitoring and surveillance.

Smikle told The Gleaner that this positive achievement was a result of the effort over the years which had gone into the management and enforcement system.

“Having a ‘green’ label, we’ll be able to show the world that Jamaica has a well-managed and sustainable queen conch fishery and it’s worth it to focus on our efforts, rather than that of countries which have not put any effort into managing their fisheries.”

Research has shown that North American customers are willing to pay more for seafood from a certified fishery and with these consumers, sustainably sourced/environmentally friendly seafood is ranked as the sixth most important driver for making purchases, with 58 per cent agreeing that consumption of sustainable seafood is necessary to protect the ocean.

HIGHLY SOUGHT AFTER

The meat of the queen conch is highly sought after, making it one of the most valuable marine delicacies in the world. In Jamaica it is subject to an export levy which contributes directly to management of the fisheries from the revenue generated and in 2018 export earnings reached US$7.2 million.

The global queen conch processed meat market is a relatively small niche market dominated by the United States (77 per cent), France and its Caribbean-dependent territories of Martinique and Guadeloupe (20 per cent), with annual earnings of US$74 million.

Jamaica’s industrial queen conch fishery is comprised of 12 private sector firms with four of them – B & D Trawling Limited, Newport Fish and Meats, Ton-rick Enterprise and Seafood Incorporated, making up the Jamaica Conch Cluster. For 2021 the cluster was allocated 52.34 per cent (141.3 metric tonnes) of the total allowable catch (270 metric tonnes and at that time employed 79 permanent employees, 220 temporary workers (67 per cent women and 33 per cent men) as conch divers and processing plant employees.

Over the years, expansion of the cluster’s local queen conch processed meat export market has been constrained by production limits and the high costs of production as a result of the very stringent management regime, underscored by very high food safety, sanitary and phyto-sanitary standards.

In light of the anticipated MSC certification, the Jamaica Conch Cluster, with technical assistance from the Compete Caribbean Partnership Facility, a private sector development programme designed to deliver innovative and practical solutions that stimulate economic growth, increase productivity and foster innovation and competitiveness, while promoting economic inclusion, has set its sights on a number of strategic objectives, as follows:

• The establishment of a memorandum of understanding between regulators and queen conch industry stakeholders to facilitate collaboration and consultation in the drafting of critical legislation and policies affecting the conch industry by 2024.

• Reducing waste and utilising the full range of the queen conch food and non-food products through value-addition.

• Increasing the global market share and export sales by at least two per cent, by targeting the Caribbean Diaspora in the United Kingdom, Canada, and the United States of America, as the Chinese markets, with two new value-added products by 2025.

• Increasing total sales by 50 per cent, through the introduction of new value-added products by 2026.

• Establishing formal mechanisms to ensure the cluster’s involvement in the governance of the queen conch industry and to facilitate and influence policy and legislative interventions to safeguard profitability and the livelihoods of queen conch industry by 2026.