The market
The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) reported that 93.3 million tons of fish were landed from commercial fisheries in wild fisheries, valued at $150 billion, with an additional 48.1 million tons produced by fish farms, with an estimated market price of $110 billion in 2010. There are 4 million commercial fishing vessels, 1.3 million of which have decks and enclosed spaces. The remainder are artisanal fishing vessels. Nearly 40,000 fishing vessels over 100 tons comprise the global industrial fishing fleet. China is the world's largest consumer of fish and has the world's largest fishing industry, responsible for one-third of the global catch. The world's second-largest fish producer is Peru, which exports almost all of its fish. Indonesia has the largest fishing fleet with 700,000 vessels, but 25% of all vessels are canoes. Japan, the United States, Chile, Indonesia, Russia, India, Thailand, Norway, and Iceland, along with China and Peru, account for more than half of the total catch.
The world's largest factory ship processes 350 tons of fish per day and can store 7,000 tons of filleted fish. Because trawling is indiscriminate, all unwanted fish are increasingly being processed into fishmeal for animal feed. Unfortunately, most factory ships still discard unwanted fish overboard. According to the United Nations, over 70% of the world's fisheries are fully exploited, overexploited, or severely depleted. As commercial fishing rapidly ceases to be viable, the only hope appears to be the expansion of fish farming. However, producing one million tons of salmon requires catching and processing three million tons of wild fish. Alternative fish farming was described in Scenario 47.
Nippon Suisan Kaisha Ltd., known as Nissui, is the world's largest fishing company. The Japanese company owns approximately 20% of all whitefish fishing quotas and rights worldwide and operates over 150 fish processing plants with annual sales exceeding $5 billion. The Tokyo Metropolitan Central Wholesale Market, known as Tsukiji Market, is the world's largest wholesale market for fish and seafood. The market handles over 400 types of seafood, from seaweed and caviar to sardines, tuna, and the highly controversial whale meat. In total, this market handles over 700,000 tons of seafood with a total value of $5.5 billion and employs 65,000 people.
Innovation
The push for sustainable fishing has forced the industry to adapt to dwindling fish stocks. Fishing companies are increasingly committed to improving their harvesting systems with innovative nets and even radar or ultrasound to avoid the unintentional killing of dolphins, the excessive slaughter of sharks, and the depletion of tuna stocks. Several market leaders are shifting from low-value fish to marketing specialized health foods containing EPA and DPA, better known as omega-3 unsaturated fatty acids, and to purifying fish raw materials as pharmaceutical ingredients to help lower blood lipid levels and prevent arteriosclerosis. However, the main challenge remains—as we have described—that the shipping and fishing industry continues to consume heavy fuel oil as its primary energy source and is depleting fish stocks beyond the carrying capacity of rivers and oceans. Fishing has a large carbon footprint and pollution disproportionate to the importance of its contribution to the economy.
Eric Le Quéré began his career designing and operating fishing vessels off the Atlantic coast. He loves the sea and, over the years, he witnessed a growing demand for and the need to incorporate sustainability into the business model. Realizing that the industry had seen no innovation in half a century, and facing strict quotas imposed by the European Union, Eric launched his own naval shipbuilding and maintenance company in Morocco in 2003. He quickly grasped the need to rethink the design and operation of factory ships. His discussions with local Moroccan authorities motivated him to launch a major initiative in 2009: to develop a fishing concept that generates higher revenues while ensuring complete sustainability from fuel to processing. He decided to initially apply his expertise to smaller fish such as anchovies, sardines, and mackerel. He set himself a simple goal: zero emissions and zero fossil fuels. He opted for a fishing catamaran capable of generating its own solar and wind energy, two abundant sources at sea.
His catamaran is equipped with four rigid sails that can rotate 360 degrees, each fitted with four sets of solar panels. The vessel also has two underwater generators that produce additional hydroelectric power from the currents. In 2010, this innovative concept obtained an international patent for this multimodal hybrid vessel, capable of sailing at 13 knots with 50 tons of processed fish on board. The ship's hull is made of 100% recycled aluminum. Net fishing is limited to sardines, leaving all other fish free in the ocean. Since Morocco lacked the necessary expertise to pioneer this technology, it was decided to establish the research and production center in Caen, France. Eric was joined by Roger Vandomme and Bruno Racouchot to create a new company, Marethix Industries SAS.
The first cash flow
The Moroccan government has ordered six vessels. Their construction draws on expertise available in Brittany and Normandy and the cooperation of six local companies. Financing for the vessels is based on the rights to harvest 60,000 tons of fish, awarded following a public tender. The catamaran benefits from low operating costs, maximizes labor by processing all the fish on board, and prepares the catch for value-added consumer products, including Omega-3. The entire initiative requires the recruitment of 45 people per vessel. The business model surpasses all other vessels thanks to its ability to leverage the entire value chain, from the vessel's design to the offshore processing plant, encompassing harvesting techniques, logistics, and delivery organization. The catch is fully traceable throughout the value chain. The power outlets are housed in standardized refrigerated containers on board, using standardized multimodal transport systems. The energy required for propulsion, vessel operation, refrigeration, both on board and ashore, is 100% renewable. This systemic approach, integrating multiple technologies into a high-performance cluster, is one of the core characteristics of the Blue Economy.
The opportunity
This integrated approach increases the added value of a basic fish catch by 2.5 times. This vessel, capable of catching 10,000 tons of sardines, saves 250,000 liters of heavy fuel oil per year. Each ton of heavy fuel oil burned produces 3.1 tons of carbon dioxide. This means that, including all other components, each vessel generates 1,000 tons of carbon credits per year, equivalent to the salary of a crew member in Morocco. Furthermore, in a region lacking access to drinking water, each vessel saves 50,000 cubic meters of fresh water annually. Reducing costs while increasing value, without compromising sustainability, ensures a competitive position, not only for the construction of new vessels, but also by providing authorities with a comprehensive solution for allocating fishing quotas through public tenders, which includes job creation.
Marethix's new business model includes the creation of a new industrial development near Agadir. In Morocco, a processing center will produce ready-to-eat fish products. The decline in fish stocks and job losses due to quota restrictions are more than offset by higher revenues, while simultaneously revitalizing the shipbuilding industry in France. This constitutes a platform for local growth in both France and Morocco. Given that the small fish industry is increasingly popular due to its significantly higher health benefits and lower risk of heavy metal accumulation, this strategy aims to foster an economy that offers better food at lower prices while generating more income for all participants—except those clinging to outdated business models that threaten to completely destroy our oceans. This is a model that could inspire 4 million shipowners worldwide. Who said there's no future in fishing? Following the Marethix model, fishing could generate millions of jobs by making intelligent use of available resources. It is up to entrepreneurs to make this happen.
Case study currently being rewritten.
It is with the greatest regret that the editorial committee of the ZERI network has decided to remove this case from the website.
Working with scientists and entrepreneurs, we are confident in the originality and veracity of the information we gather.
To our great regret, we have substantial evidence that the "netless" fishing technique was falsely claimed by the company and its executives.
Even worse, we are facing serious ethical problems, both at the corporate level and, especially, at the personal level.
We have therefore decided to rewrite this case and present a new version in order to celebrate the true players in the field, and not those who present themselves as the inventors.
We regret this situation. However, among the hundred or so cases identified, one has certainly slipped through the net.
We have already corrected the essential information in Gunter's Fable and will remove the erroneous references from all our publications.
