Fishery at 78° - Small scale fishery for local value creation on Svalbard

Informations

Funding country

Norway

Acronym

-

URL

-

Start date

1/1/2021

End date

12/31/2024

Budget

1,476,000 EUR

Fundings

Abstract

The coal-mine industry on Svalbard has been drastically reduced, and alternative income resources have been explored to ensure Norwegian presence in the Svalbard archipelago such as establishment of a research community and promotion of a tourism industry. The objective for the Norwegian government is to ensure that Longyearbyen, also in the future, remains a viable local community being attractive for livelihood, employment, and settlement. The potential to have access to the highly valued marine resources; the idea to exploit the red king crab and snow crab resources, the idea of exploring the options in creating values of these species through live holding, processing, and development into culinary dishes was conceived. The water temperature for live holding are favorable, and the distance from fishing ground to Longyearbyen is short, especially for the Snow crab. In 2021, the project group has studied the existing regulations for fishery, landing, and processing in Longyearbyen, barriers and options. Furthermore, routines from capture until processing ensuring adequate animal welfare, but also, products fulfilling general quality requirements, have been explored. In parallell to this, the expectations from the tourists regarding culinary experiences based on snow and red king crab, produced locally, have been explored.