Diversified, the producer of Seafood Expo North America/Seafood Processing North America, has revealed the 2025 conference program.
The latest edition of the conference program will feature a range of topics impacting the seafood industry, including AI, labor rights, regulatory issues, consumption and consumer trends, and more. The over 30 sessions will begin at 11:15 a.m. on 16 March with a keynote address by Nomi Prins – a macroeconomist, geopolitical financial expert, and best-selling author – titled “Riding the Waves: Navigating Economic, Energy, and Trade Policies Impacting the Seafood Industry in 2025.” [Editor’s note: Diversified also owns and operates SeafoodSource.]
Regulatory and traceability requirements will be a main topic of multiple sessions, including one session titled “The Demise of the Chevron Doctrine and the Legal Implications for Fisheries and Aquaculture,” which overviews the legal and practical implications of the Supreme Court’s decision to overturn Chevron in June 2024.
Another session will cover “SIMP 2.0” and will feature speakers from NOAA Fisheries, FishWise, the E.U. IUU Fishing Coalition and others who will review ideas around the traceability requirements of the potential rollout of NOAA’s expansion of the Seafood Import Monitoring Program.
Several other sessions will cover seafood trends, consumer behavior, and innovations. Emmy-winning and four-time James Beard Award-winning T.V. personality, chef, and writer Andrew Zimmern, alongside the Seafood Nutrition Partnership, will discuss the challenges and potential solutions to increasing seafood consumption in America in the session titled “Fall in Love with Seafood: Driving Consumer Behavior Change and Seafood Sales.”
The Food Industry Association will also present the results of “The Power of Seafood,” an annual survey on seafood shopping habits.
“They will reveal why consumers are shopping for seafood, what their preferences are and how their behaviors have changed,” Diversified said.
Other sessions will cover restaurant, menu, and supermarket trends – and what practices could make seafood a consumer’s preferred protein.
Sessions will also feature discussions on how to prevent fish sourced via IUU fishing from entering the U.S. Others will cover how AI can automate and improve quality and food safety inspections.
Sustainability efforts, including those surrounding marine plastic pollution, will also be addressed during the conference program, according to Diversified.
“A conversation on marine plastic pollution and the issue of lost, abandoned, or discarded fishing gear (ALDFG) or ‘ghost gear,’ will be led by a member of the Global Ghost Gear Initiative (GGGI)/Ocean Conservancy,” Diversified said.
Promoting gender equity in the seafood industry and the next generation of seafood entrepreneurs will also be featured at the conference, with sessions discussing the business case for cultivating a diverse workforce and diverse products.
The full comprehensive conference program is available online now.
