JAMAICA GROWING MARKET FOR SEAFOOD LEADER

Mr. Wara said that Norway was the world’s leading seafood exporter, exporting 2.3 million tones with earnings of over US$7B for 2007.  The country currently supplies some 80% or 3,950 tonnes of the salted fish to the Jamaican market in 2007. This was an increase of roughly 600 tonnes over the previous year.

“We are seeing significant increase in Jamaican consumption, and this is driving our investment in this market,” Mr. Wara said. Based on the total figures, the Jamaican per capita consumption of dried salted fish was coming out at about 2.5 kilos per capita.

Mr Wara said the Norwegian Seafood industry had learned of the cultural and socio-historical significance of saltfish to the Jamaican populace and in that light, took its position as the majority supplier very seriously. He added that Norway had a comprehensive and tightly monitored environmental policy of maintaining the integrity and renewability of fish stocks, “staying in tune with nature”. The Norwegian marketer also shared with the media some of the historical background and cultural importance of the fisheries and seafood industries in the Scandinavian nation, which has a total coastline equivalent to half the Earth’s circumference at the Equator (some 20,000 kilometers). Norwegians have documented seafood exports dating back over 1,000 years, and the country is presently the leading supplier of seafood to over 149 nations, including Jamaica.

The largest market is Portugal, which currently has a per capita consumption of 75 kilos per capita and consumes 25% of the codfish catch (the cod, traditionally recognized as saltfish is of the same family as the saithe). Brazil, a former Portuguese colony is another important market where they currently serve over 60 million customers and are looking to expand to the wider total population of 190 million.

Established by order of the Norwegian Parliament in 1991, the Norwegian Seafood Export Council aims to increase awareness of and interest in seafood in Norway and around the world. It has been active through its agents, PROComm, in Jamaica for the past three years.