The European Investment Bank (EIB) is to invest much more heavily in the wild fisheries sector and capitalize on the high demand growth for seafood and the recoveries being seen in many key stocks.
Speaking at the plenary session “Investing in Sustainable Fishing Can Spark Global Fisheries Recovery,” at the SeaWeb Seafood Summit 2016 (SWSS16) in Malta, Christopher Knowles, associate director at the EIB, said that like many other organizations in the world, the bank is currently grappling with two major issues: global warming and resource management/conservation.
To date, most of EIB’s focus has been on global warming. In the last five years, it has provided EUR 90 billion (USD 98.3 billion) for climate projects, including renewable energy, energy efficiency and sustainable transport. Knowles added that it would be fair to say the bank has focused a lot less on resource management and conservation.
“That’s something my scientific colleagues have told me is wrong: that we need to get a better balance,” he told the conference delegates.
Therefore, in recent years, EIB has started growing its sustainable forestry and sustainable aquaculture portfolios. It has, though, done much less with the fisheries sector – investing just EUR 200 million (USD 218 million) over the past five years.
“That was across the whole chain – processing as well as catching – and all with SMEs, not big entities,” said Knowles. “It’s definitely time to do more with fish. We think that policy-wise it’s pretty much a no-brainer. It’s the right thing to do in terms of sustainable development goals; it’s the right thing to do in terms of food production, food security and quality; it’s the right thing to do in terms of creating livelihoods, employment and development; it’s also the right thing to do in terms of carbon emissions.”
There has already been a “big step up” in the demand for aquaculture funding and EIB is now actively looking closer at the wild fisheries, said Knowles.
“We get the point that wild fisheries are not the key to meeting the global demand for protein in the higher income countries – that’s not where the volume is going to be. But they do bring substantial benefits like improved livelihoods, greater profitability and food security in low-income coastal countries, some of which have been very hard hit by climate change.
“For the most part, I think we are talking about small, high impact coastal fisheries. They will be projects where the management, until now, has been weaker or there has been no reform at all, because that’s probably where the greatest potential and the greatest return will be.”
Knowles anticipates that EIB’s approach will be “incremental,” starting very small in just one or two localities to build “a record of success.” He also added that the bank is “fishing” for partners, most likely global organizations that have the technical expertise to be able to design and implement these rehabilitating schemes, in addition to the “very key capacity to engage with local communities” as well as the competence to engage in the commercial world. Last but not least, they must be able to commit to “impeccable” levels of governance and social and environmental standards.
“We attach maximum thought to those things,” he said.
One of the first investment projects expected from this new pipeline is likely to be in the Seychelles, and Knowles said he hoped EIB would be in a position to announce a cooperation with the country’s government in the coming months and that others should follow in the wake of that scheme.
Founded in 1958, the EIB is owned by the EU and represents the interests of its 28 member states and works closely with other EU institutions to implement policy. Last year it lent a total of EUR 77.5 billion (USD 84.7 billion), most of which goes to the EU but it is still active in around 160 non-EU countries.
