There was certainly no dearth of news at last week's 17th annual European Seafood Exposition. The SeafoodSource editorial team was on site in Brussels reporting news and gossip from the show floor and conference rooms. If you missed our coverage last week, here's a glance at the show highlights:
10) The three-day event was a success. "The numbers were pretty much on par with last year," Mary Larkin, VP of seafood exposition for show organizer Diversified Business Communications, told SeafoodSource on Thursday. "The aisles seem busy, [and] people seem happy. There's a sense of optimism with exhibitors. They're pleasantly surprised with the event given the current economic crisis." The show also received a lot of press, with some 110 journalists visiting the show on Tuesday alone, including the BBC, the Financial Times, Het Nieuwsblad and RTBF.
9) The European Seafood Exposition draws a lot of politicians from countries and regions whose economies depend on the global seafood trade. Among the VIPs who walked the show floor last week were Brussels Mayor Freddy Thielemans, Scotland Fisheries Minister Richard Lochhead, Western Australia Fisheries Minister Norman Moore and Alaska state legislators Bill Thomas, Bob Herron and Lyman Hoffman.
8) Greenpeace made noise at this year's show, though it was quiet compared to last year. On Monday, the group launched an online petition encouraging retailers and restaurateurs to pre-order skipjack tuna from only sustainable sources. On Tuesday outside the Brussels Exhibition Grounds, Greenpeace volunteers distributed pamphlets promoting its blacklist of IUU (illegal, unreported and unregulated) fishing vessels and spray painted "Act Against Pirate Fishing Now" in numerous spots on the sidewalk.
7) GlobalGAP on Wednesday introduced farmed tilapia and pangasius certification standards, which have been in development for just under two years and tested at 15 Asia and North and South America farms by GlobalGAP auditors.
6) Panelists at Wednesday's conference, "Are Certification Costs Too High For Aquaculture Producers?" emphasized the need to harmonize aquaculture certification standards worldwide. Standards bodies must be willing to integrate standards and certification bodies must be willing to integrate audits, said the panelists.<link>
5) The Norwegian Seafood Export Council on Wednesday said it is looking to grow Norway's share of the U.S. farmed salmon market, with the help of a NOK 10 million (USD 1.5 million, EUR 1.1 million) marketing campaign. Norway, which produced 720,000 to 730,000 metric tons of farmed salmon last year, sees an opportunity given Chile's struggles with infectious salmon anemia, which has curbed production there.
4) Rupert Howes, executive director of the Marine Stewardship Council, on Wednesday expressed confidence that the Alaska Department of Fish and Game (ADF&G) will find clients to pursue MSC recertification of the Alaska salmon fishery when its certification lapses in 2012. ADF&G is the only fishery management agency serving as an MSC client.
3) EU Marine Affairs and Fisheries Commissioner Joe Borg and Andrey Krayniy, head of Russia's Federal Agency for Fisheries, on Wednesday shook hands in the Russian Pavilion after they signed an agreement to strengthen management of Baltic Sea fisheries. This was the first year Russia had a pavilion at the European Seafood Exposition.
2) Panelists at Wednesday's "Sustainability of the European Seafood Industry" conference called the existing EU Common Fisheries Policy "nonsensical" and said the responsibility to resolve the fishing industry's woes lies with the market.
1) Germany's Deutsche See GmbH on Tuesday ran away with two awards at the ninth annual Seafood Prix d'Elite new products competition. The German company's Salmon in a Wooden Leaf captured the best new retail product and won a special award for originality. Alfocan SA was the other grand prize winner. The Spanish company's Crayfish Skewers captured the best new foodservice product. The other Seafood Prix d'Elite winners were Great Britain's Organic Smokehouse, Belgium's Marine Harvest, Vietnam's Vinh Hoan Corp. and, for the second consecutive year, Denmark's Royal Greenland.
May 4, 2009
