Greenland moves to establish its own ocean cluster

Greenlandic authorities and representatives of the Iceland Ocean Cluster have signed an agreement to establish a Greenland Ocean Cluster, mbl.is reports. The initiative aims to strengthen innovation and research linked to the fishing industry.

Fishing activity in Greenland is concentrated mainly in Nuuk, Ilulissat and Sisimut. The country’s authorities will now take steps towards creating the cluster, while local stakeholders will determine its structure and activities.

Alexandra Leeper, managing director of the Iceland Ocean Cluster, said the Icelandic organisation’s role was to facilitate new connections and serve as a model. The Icelandic cluster will not own shares in overseas clusters or charge them fees for using a similar business model.

The agreement was signed by Greenland’s Ministry of Hunting, Agriculture and Fisheries. Leeper said Greenland’s blue economy had significant potential to expand innovation and value creation connected to the sea.

Greenland is highly dependent on fishing, with fishing companies across the country estimated to generate about 90 per cent of the nation’s export revenues, Leeper said.

Greenland’s fishing industry is similar to Iceland’s in some respects but differs in others. One key difference is the prominent role of Royal Greenland, a state-owned fishing company whose operations include a social responsibility to support smaller communities by maintaining smaller fish-processing companies and jobs there.

Greenland’s fishing industry is also closely connected to Iceland’s, with a long tradition of selling Greenlandic catches to Icelandic processing companies. Leeper said Greenland was roughly 10 to 15 years behind Iceland in creating value from by-products, but that there was strong interest in improving research and supporting innovation.

She stressed that each country needed to adapt the ocean-cluster model to its own needs. The Iceland Ocean Cluster’s role was not to transfer its operations directly to other countries, she said, but to help them identify promising ideas, create effective platforms for cooperation and find opportunities within their own supply chains.

About 20 ocean clusters based on the Icelandic model are now operating. Leaders from 15 of them are expected to meet in Reykjavík in September for the first joint ocean-cluster summit.