On its final day, the congress’ programme focused on the future, with keynote speaker Chris Grieve, executive director at Meridian Prime, opening the session by looking closely at the opportunities and challenges facing the industry in the 21st century. Chris also examined the need for skills and training to help ensure sustainable practices are implemented as the industry moves forward.
This forward-looking theme was continued throughout the day, with a number of sessions on sustainability, future product opportunities and the developments taking place among international fisheries.
Dr Janet Howieson, post-doctoral scientist at Curtin University Australia, looked at new opportunities for seafood by-products. Following this, Nigel Edwards, technical and CSR director at WSC sponsor, Icelandic Seachill, discussed how sustainable practices can be delivered through the appropriation of the right skills and training, while Jonathan Shepard at Bluetail Consulting examined the future availability of salmon feeds and Scottish industry implications.
The future of the World Seafood Congress was also confirmed during the day’s opening remarks, with the announcement that Reykjavík, Iceland will be the destination for the 2017 congress. The next congress will be hosted by Matís, the Icelandic- government owned, independent research company for the food and biotechnology industries, and the theme will be ‘Growth in the Blue Bioeconomy’.
Commenting on the close of the 2015 congress, Paul Williams, chief executive of Seafish, the industry body hosting this year’s event, said: “The congress has been a tremendous success and I thank all those who have organised and attended. It has been a pleasure welcoming colleagues and international delegates to Grimsby for what has been a fascinating three days of insight and discussion.
“This year’s congress has reinforced how important it is for the seafood sector to come together to share different perspectives from across the world so we can tackle challenges and identify new opportunities for growth as a whole.”
