By-Product Solutions

A word from the editor…

The rapid emergence of seafood by-product utilisation isn’t a sustainability sideshow; it’s becoming a core business strategy. As this latest WF Special Report shows, across geographies as different as Scotland, Iceland, Namibia and North America’s Great Lakes, the same hard truth is forcing change: quota pressure, rising costs and social licence constraints mean the future of seafood lies in extracting more value from what’s already harvested, not in landing more fish.

Arguably what’s most striking is how quickly the conversation has shifted from “waste management” to system-wide value creation. Indeed, there’s a maturing recognition that by-products aren’t peripheral, but potentially the margin. Moreover, in a sector defined by high input costs and thin returns – shells, skins, heads and viscera are no longer liabilities; they’re latent balance-sheet assets waiting for the right infrastructure, partnerships and market logic.

The common denominator is mindset. Full utilisation succeeds when industries stop treating by-products as problems to be disposed of and start managing them as strategic resources. Meanwhile, clusters, when disciplined and industry-led, provide the connective tissue – uniting fishers, processors, scientists, investors and more besides.

For me, what shines through in the report’s content is that in a constrained seafood future, the winners won’t be those who catch more, but those who waste less and value more.

- Jason Holland, Editor, World Fishing & Aquaculture
jholland@worldfishing.net