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The Blue BioTrade Project in the OECS. Seizing Trade and Biodiversity Opportunities

Lench Fevrier, Senior Technical Officer For Agriculture, OECS

economiy- Challenges

Production Inefficiencies

Innovation and Greening

Business Environment Improvement

Meeting to Domestic and International Standards

Finance and Investment

Ease of Doing Business

Low Productivity

Infrastructure

Conch Trade at a Glance

• The global conch market has been estimated at about $74 million in 2017

• In 2015 alone, 1.4 thousand tons of conch were exported from the Caribbean to the United States (representing about 70 per cent of global conch trade).

• Production of queen conch by the project beneficiary countries (Grenada, Saint Lucia and St. Vincent and the Grenadines) was equivalent to 645 metric tons (mt) with a value of about USD 7.63 million in 2012

• Sources: UNCTAD, FAO and Regional queen conch Fisheries Management and Conservation Plan, 2014-2020).

Source: CITES

Conch, Regional Trade, St Vincent

YEAR

LANDINGS

EXPORTS

Weight

Value

Price/Lb Weight

Value

Price.lb

2015 2016 2017 2018 2019

74,637 96,986

490,696 544,395

6.57 5.61

38,668 51,205

212,164 324,310

5.49 6.33 6.75

470,056 2,820,336 684,060 6,848,773 911,670 5,876,335

6.00 275,575 1,858,775 10.01 612,545 6,652,644 6.45 722,893 7,990,169

10.86 11.05

Source: Department of Fisheries, St Vincent

Conch, Regional Trade, Grenada

Source: Department of Fisheries, Grenada

Conch, Regional Trade, St. Lucia

Source: Department of Fisheries, St Lucia

BBT Queen Conch, Value Chain Assessment • Funded under the EU, 11 th EDF, EURO 300,000 • Partners - OECS, UNCTAD, CITES • Beneficiaries- St. Vincent and the Grenadines, Grenada and Saint Lucia • Project duration-2020-2022

BBT Project Objectives

• To empower small-scale coastal producers from OECS member states to produce and trade queen conch products in domestic, regional and international markets under the Blue BioTrade environmental, social and economic sustainability criteria, including CITES. • Activities • Stakeholder mapping • Blue BioTrade Webinar • 3 country queen conch product assessments

• Regional Blue BioTrade Workshop • Regional Blue BioTrade Action Plan • Dissemination and outreach

Expected Outcomes

• Outcome 1: Stakeholders have enhanced capacity to identify sustainable business opportunities and formulate joint actions to apply Blue BioTrade principles in the queen conch value chain. • Outcome 2: Small-scale coastal producers in beneficiary countries benefit from enhanced sustainable production and trade opportunities in the queen conch value chain

Blue Biotrade Study Benefits

• The preparation of three country case studies. • Informationwill assist the development of national QC management plans. • Catch and effort data will improve QC management in the participating countries. • Traceability of Queen conch throughout the value chain will help QC meat exports to attract better prices. • The trade opportunities (meat and other parts)

that will be developed will help to further increase the income generation capacity of fishers and other stakeholders.

OTHER BBT PROJECTS

• SARGASSUM • SEA MOSS

Potential Areas of Investment • Fertilizers • Food • Pharmaceuticals (Raw materials) • Regulations and Standards

THANK YOU