The ‘Capacity Building for Improved Management and Optimised Utilisation of Fish Waste’, launched the 12th of June 2024, has now come to an end. The closing ceremony and certificate presentation, hosted at the Pelican House (BIDC Building), Princess Alice Highway, St. Michael, on the 21st of March 2025 highlighted the more than 40 Barbadians who received training in transforming fish waste into valuable products like fish silage, fertiliser, and animal feed.
Through the project ran by the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), in collaboration with the Ministries of Environment and National Beautification, Green and Blue Economy; Agriculture, Food, and Nutritional Security; and Youth, Sports and Community Empowerment, the sessions conducted consisted of workshops, practicals, and live demonstrations, participants learned of the importance and benefits of a circular economy.
The Minister of Environment and National Beautification, Adrian Forde, said that the aim of the project was to promote the reduction of waste and to create a value chain that is sustainable, with economic development that would benefit current and future generations.
Minister Forde, the FAO Representative ad interim in Barbados, Juan M. Cheaz Peláez, and Chief Fisheries Officer, Dr. Shelly-Ann Cox, all thanked the players that had a hand in the success of the project, such as the FAO, the Caribbean Agricultural Research and Development Institute, the Government of Barbados across three ministries, and the participants, comprised mainly of females, who saw the project through to the end.
Some of the participants as they receive their certifications. Kelvin Carter (top left), Katrina Chapman (top middle), Kodi Edwards (top right), Adrian Wiltshire (middle left), Mary-Therese Prospere (middle right), Therese Moore (bottom left), Seymour Nurse (bottom right). Photo credits: Adriel Jackman
The Minister also highlighted that the training in transforming fish waste into products tied into how Barbados was working towards Sustainable Development Goal #12 -‘ensure sustainable consumption and production patterns’.
Mr. Peláez noted that “Since its launch on June 12, 2024, this initiative has embodied the FAO core commitment to better production, better nutrition, better environment and better lives, contributing directly to Barbados’ New Economy Roadmap and Fisheries Policy.
“This project has once more demonstrated that what was once considered waste, the byproducts from fish processing can now be transformed into opportunities. By building the capacity of fisherfolk organisations, youth and women, we have unlocked new avenues for entrepreneurship,” the FAO Representative stated.
Dr. Cox was pleased to celebrate the completion of the course. “It’s always a good time to celebrate, I would say, imparting knowledge, and the training activities that we have been implementing, of course, with key collaborators…. And we’re very grateful to our partners, especially the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, for their support in building out this, I would say, almost third iteration of the fish waste project with special emphasis in this third phase in building the capacity of our stakeholders, but along the lines of business development. So, it was beyond our usual training on food safety, with special emphasis on fish waste,” the Chief Fisheries Officer said.
Shamar Blunt