Having recently acquired a new longliner, Falklands squid and whitefish catcher Fortuna Seafoods is looking to high-end markets in northern Europe to expand its toothfish sales, said company director James Wallace.
Speaking from the Fish International 2014 fair in Bremen, Wallace said the company was looking to complement its traditional toothfish markets, the US and Asia.
The company sells around 600 metric tons per year of the sought-after fish, which can sell for €25 per kilo.
That represents around 5% of worldwide supply, estimated at 10,000-12,000t, said Wallace.
The director said Fortuna recently acquired the 55‐meter ice class longliner Tronio, specifically designed for ice fishing in Antarctica. The longliner is scheduled to arrive in Stanley to offload at the end of February.
“This acquisition is the first serious fishing asset outside of the Falklands, building on the reputation of fisheries regime in the islands,” Wallace told Undercurrent.
The investment, he said, is a significant development for the company and represents an expansion abroad that builds on its strong position in domestic fisheries in the Falkland Islands.
Besides catching toothfish, Fortuna — which describes itself as the Falklands’ largest private company — claims to be the world’s largest quota owner and catcher of Patagonian squid.
Tronio’s annual cycle will begin in exploratory fisheries targeting Antarctic toothfish and conducting research on behalf of the Commission for the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources (CCAMLR) within the Antarctic ice-belt.
In April, the vessel will join the Marine Stewardship Council-certified South Georgia toothfish fishery targeting Patagonian toothfish. It will later catch swordfish in more northern waters.
The 1,058-gross ton vessel can produce 300t of frozen at sea products. The vessel also carries 500,000 liters of fuel giving it a wide range of operation and autonomy, key factors for successful fishing expeditions in some of the world’s most remote fishing grounds where the closest port can be three weeks’ sailing away.
As a certified MSC vessel, a traceability system is in operation monitoring daily production that customers can access to verify that all Tronio products come from fisheries that have been certified to the MSC standard.
From Undercurrent news