The negative impacts of climate change are all too common in the Pacific Islands. Islands face a real threat of sea level rise and are increasingly vulnerable to natural disasters, as we saw with Super Cyclone Pam, which devastated Vanuatu in March. As Secretary Kerry highlighted during last year’s Our Ocean Conference, the ocean is essential to maintaining the environment in which we all live. The need for sustainable approaches to business and utilizing natural resources is increasingly evident, and it’s reassuring to see the small and medium sized businesses taking on this challenge.
Last month I met 30 inspiring entrepreneurs from Fiji, Kiribati, Tuvalu, Papua New Guinea, and the Solomon Islands at a Fish 2.0 capacity development workshop in Nadi, Fiji. Supported by the State Department through the International Diaspora Engagement Alliance (IdEA) and co-hosted by the World Wildlife Fund and the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), the workshop taught critical business skills and offered insight into creating a growth plan, communicating visions, and working with investors on a global scale, with a unique focus on sustainability.
Entrepreneurs Discuss Business Plans at Fish 2.0 Capacity Development Workshop in Nadi, Fiji [State Department Photo]
Fish 2.0 is a global business competition that connects sustainable fishing and aquaculture businesses with potential investors, offering participating businesses access to mentors, business guidance, and network connections. True progress on conservation and sustainability has the greatest potential when the public and private sector act together. That is why the U.S. State Department is supporting Fish 2.0 -- to help link Pacific Islanders living in the region with mentors, investors, and communities in the United States and around the world, and drive business growth that creates positive environmental and social change.
The businesses at the Fish 2.0 workshop ranged from a mature fishing business that supplies multinational processing companies to a young mud crab company and a new enterprise seeking to develop the seaweed industry. The entrepreneurs were challenged to define their company’s values and communicate their impact statements in promoting sustainable seafood. By the end of the two-day workshop, the organizers confirmed that participants were ready to apply for the Fish 2.0 sustainable seafood and aquaculture business competition.
Pacific Island Entrepreneurs Pose for a Photo at the Fish 2.0 Capacity Development Workshop in Nadi, Fiji [State Department Photo]
We’re excited to work with the IdEA partnership in support of Fish 2.0, both to expand opportunities for Pacific Island businesses for the 2015 competition, and to engage the Pacific Islands diaspora communities in support of these dynamic entrepreneurs. Through our support, we hope to shine a spotlight on the incredible creativity of the Pacific Islands. We also want to help provide the tools for sustainable businesses and entrepreneurs in the Pacific Islands to expand their businesses, reach new markets, and find strategic partners. The Department’s support for Fish 2.0 also shows the broad, longstanding cooperation between the United States and Pacific Islands that maximizes the benefits from the sustainable development of fisheries resources.
Over the next few months, Fish 2.0 will give seafood entrepreneurs the opportunity to network with others working to promote sustainable fishing, the opportunity to discuss business plans and promote best practices, and for a few, the lucky winners of this competition, obtain financing for their ideas. But the impact is much broader than that. Fish 2.0 will help build a mutually supportive sustainable fisheries community that will pay dividends for business owners, investors, Pacific nations, people and the ocean around us, far into the future. I look forward to seeing developments among the private sector in the Pacific in reaching goals of promoting ocean conservation and sustainable fisheries.
Note: The deadline for applications to participate in Fish 2.0 is April 27th. Both early stage entrepreneurs and established seafood companies that want to connect with investors can find further details at www.fish20.org. Investors and advisors can also support innovation in sustainable aquaculture and fisheries by signing up to participate at www.fish20.org.
About the Author: Judith Cefkin serves as the U.S. Ambassador to Fiji, Kiribati, Nauru, Tonga, and Tuvalu.
