Having an impact

How do we get where we want to be with our fisheries? How do we come up with policies that have impact? How do we ensure social acceptance of changes? What has worked in this and what has not worked?

These are amongst the key questions our fellows were exploring during the fourth week of the 2023-24 Six-month training programme – through participation in seminars, tutorials and field trips.

The week started with a series of seminars on fisheries governance at local and international levels, followed with an introduction to fisheries economics and lessons from the Icelandic experience. This was, like in previous weeks, accompanied by tutorials on professional communications and statistics.

Then, on a cold and snowy Thursday afternoon, fellows and FTP staff explored sites of interest along the Reykjavík old harbour.

The traditional storing method of fish drying, on display on top of the outdoor installation “Þúfan”, made an interesting contrast with the modern processing technology, which was explained to the group by the staff of Brim, one of Iceland’s biggest fishing companies.

Other highlights of the harbour walk included a stop by at the Fish auction market at Faxaskáli, a stroll through the Icelandic ocean cluster and a guided tour of the Reykjavík maritime museum.

In the late afternoon that day, GRÓ Centre director general, Nína Björk Jónsdóttir, met with the fellows and discussed with them the centre’s role in international development cooperation.

The busy week ended with a presentation session, Friday, in which the fellows introduced the status of fisheries policies and management systems in their home countries.