Icelandic fisheries have evolved strategies and techniques to draw revenue from many by-products of fish. In most parts of the world, these ‘other products’ of fish are still treated as waste. Studies by the Iceland Ocean Cluster (IOC) indicate that Iceland uses 90 percent of each fish, while most fishing nations use around 50-55 percent. Yet ambition remains high for the leading fisheries in Iceland who have announced their aim is to utilise 100 percent of the fish.
The mission of the 100 percent fish utilisation movement initiated by the IOC is to inspire the seafood industry and seafood communities to utilise more of each fish, increase the value of each fish landed, support new business opportunities, increase employment and
decrease waste. Iceland is a great example of what can be achieved with greater fish utilisation; the use of more by-products in the Icelandic fisheries (which increased by around 3,000 percent in the last 30 years) has led to an independent industry that has created at least 1,000 direct jobs and an annual value in excess of $300 million. Many of these jobs are in coastal towns in rural areas.
Various projects which aim to use more of whitefish, salmon and shellfish are underway among ocean clusters within the Ocean Cluster Network, ranging from creating skincare products with whitefish skins to deriving protein from lobster shells.