JAMAICA GROWING MARKET FOR SEAFOOD LEADER

Jamaica remains an important and growing market for Seafood from Norway, the world’s largest seafood exporter.

Speaking at a media briefing held earlier this year, Mr Svein Wara, Marketing Manager for the Norwegian Seafood Export Council (which trades under the brand Seafood from Norway), said that the Norwegian industry was presently supplying some 80%, or 3,950 tonnes of the salted fish consumed by Jamaicans in 2007, an increase of roughly 600 tonnes over the previous year.

“We are seeing significant increase in Jamaican consumption, and increase across the board and this is driving our investments in this market,” Mr. Wara said. He 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 council had learned of the 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 a comprehensive and tightly monitored policy of maintaining the integrity and renewability of fish stocks, so as to ensure reliability of supplies.

The Norwegian 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

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 in Jamaica for the past three years.