Public body Seafish is calling on U.K. seafood industry stakeholders to share their views on the organization’s future direction and funding as part of a strategic review.
As a public body, Seafish is mandated to carry out strategic reviews. Its board decided in November 2019 to carry out a review in 2020, but the COVID-19 pandemic delayed that process. Preparations for the postponed review started at the end of 2020, with the industry consultation scheduled to launch on 1 June, 2021.
Over eight weeks, individuals, businesses, and organizations will be asked to share views on how Seafish can best serve the seafood sector in the U.K., and how it can be funded.
Seafish CEO Marcus Coleman said the aim of the strategic review is to strengthen the organization’s offerings.
“We want to ensure we are set up and funded in the best way to help our seafood sector throughout the U.K. to thrive now and in the future,” he said. “The nature of the seafood industry is always evolving. It’s now facing the challenges that have come from the COVID-19 pandemic and as we get used to trading, fishing and working outside the E.U. We are committed to helping the industry through these changes so it’s crucial to ask seafood businesses how we can best support them.”
Seafish has advised that there will be two ways to take part in the consultation:
- Supply chain workshops that draw together stakeholders from all sectors and from the four U.K. nations. These will be held virtually due to the pandemic situation, with Seafish to contact people and invite them to take part over the next few weeks.
- Respond to questions in a written submission or by answering an online survey. This will be available to anyone who wants to share their views. Details on how to take part will be shared when the industry consultation starts in June.
A strategic review steering group, including Seafish and the four government administrations, is overseeing the review process. An independent facilitator will lead the stakeholder workshops and the written submissions part of the industry consultation. The steering group will guide the review process through to submission of Seafish’s board report to government in November 2021.
Photo courtesy of Marcus Coleman/Seafish
