The Global Seafood Alliance’s GOAL Conference, scheduled for 3 to 5 October, 2022, has been moved from Tokyo, Japan, to Seattle, Washington, U.S.A.
Originally scheduled to take place at the Okura Hotel in Tokyo from 24 to 27 October, the event was moved because “pandemic-associated travel restrictions made holding an in-person event in Japan impractical,” GSA said in a 21 April press release.
The event, which the organization dubs “the responsible seafood conference,” covers seafood-related topics from aquaculture to wild-capture fisheries, ocean health, and climate change, will now take place at Seattle’s Fairmont Olympic Hotel.
“While we are disappointed that GOAL will not be held in Tokyo this year, we are excited that GOAL is returning to the United States for the first time in 13 years, when GOAL 2009 was held in Seattle,” GSA CEO Brian Perkins said. “We chose Seattle because it fits ideally with GSA’s budding involvement in wild-capture fisheries with the rebrand from the Global Aquaculture Alliance to the Global Seafood Alliance last year, and Seattle has a rich fishing tradition.”
Formerly known as the Global Aquaculture Alliance, Portsmouth, New Hampshire, U.S.A.-based GSA is a nonprofit “dedicated to advancing responsible seafood practices through education, advocacy, and third-party assurances.” It operates the Best Aquaculture Practices and Best Seafood Practices certification programs,
This year, GOAL will consist of a series of virtual events, followed by the in-person event, which is expected to draw an estimated 500 attendees. It will be the 25th edition of the event, which has been held in 18 cities on four continents since 2001. GSA said an outline of the conference program will be released by late May, and registration will open 1 June. Dates for the virtual events will also be announced by late May, it said.
“Nothing can replace the value of the connections made at in-person events. We’re really looking forward to gathering with our associates in-person again,” Perkins said.
