This year again, following the International Boston Seafood Show (IBSS) from March 14-16, 2010, the West Africa Trade Hub participated in the 18th European Seafood Exposition (ESE) in Brussels, Belgium from April 27-29. For the first time, the Trade Hub exclusively promoted species from sustainable USAID projects in sub-regions like Wula Nafa in Senegal and Ba Nafa in Gambia. While taking part in this leading fair of the fish and seafood sector, the objectives were to increase awareness of West Africa as a source of sustainable products and to identify new purchasers and technical partners, making them aware in their own countries about the promotion of sustainable fishing in West Africa.

 The European Seafood Exposition is the most important global seafood fair in the world. It attracts buyers and sellers from over 75 countries, with over 1600 exhibitors on approximately 33,400 square meters. All categories of all segments of the seafood sector are represented. By representation in the sector, importers/exporters rank first with 35%, followed by distributors (17%), services (8%,) aquaculture (6%), food services (5%) and finally supermarkets and retailers (3%).

The Trade Hub initiated a different marketing approach from previous years because this year no exporting company was present at our booth to promote products. The direct promotion of sustainable products has been fully supported and organized by the Trade Hub team. The Trade Hub used banners and vertical panels to highlight and emphasize the role of WASSDA (West African Sustainable Seafood Development Alliance) and also provided documentation and publications on the sustainable fisheries sector in West Africa and on the activities of other WASSDA partners, including USAID, Wula Nafaa, Ba Nafa and the World Wildlife Fund (WWF).

The stand also provided information about sustainable development in the region and potential supplies in this sector while insisting on the best practices and the projects in progress in the field of sustainable fishing.

This year, many African countries including Senegal, Morocco, Mauritania and Mauritius participated in the fair and exhibited their own stands, which were all located in the same hall as the Trade Hub’s. This helped to attract some buyers to the Trade Hub’s stand -- buyers who were not necessarily interested at the beginning by a supply of sustainable products but who were surprised and pleased to discover that the region could be a sustainable source of seafood.

Other buyers, mainly European, who are aware of sustainable fisheries, visited our booth at the prospect of finding new sources of supply for their own markets. Indeed, legislation in a few European countries is changing in the short term in the direction of licensing focused only on the import of sustainable and traceable seafood.

The fair was also a good opportunity for the Trade Hub team to strengthen its partnership with some organizations that were met last January at the World Summit on Sustainable Fisheries in Paris, at which the Trade Hub team was involved and made an important contribution. These organizations included WWF, Marine Stewardship Council (MSC), Friend of the Sea, and EU representatives. The Trade Hub stand also hosted Dr. Ibrahima Niamadio from WWF / Senegal and Mrs. Yemi Oloruntuyi from MSC to discuss issues related to certification in the West African region and our future collaborations in these areas.

Thanks to this presence it is possible to show that today there are many buyers interested in the supply of sustainable products from West Africa. These buyers have reiterated to us their interest in visiting the region in the coming months to identify projects for partners to develop business relationships. The Trade Hub is currently working on the implementation of these initiatives. This is heartening and shows that it is indeed possible to reverse the overexploitation of certain fishing resources.

For more information please contact:

Makhtar Thiam: + 221 33 869 14 23; mthiam [at] watradehub [dot] com
Joe Lamport: +233 21 782 233; jlamport [at] watradehub [dot] com