The SAGB’s 49th annual conference is taking place in the stately surrounds of Fishmongers’ Hall, London on 1-2 May and an impressive line-up of speakers from both the aquaculture and wild-capture sectors, not to mention representatives from government, academia and NGOs, will be taking part.
Highlights of Day 1 are set to include a keynote speech from George Eustice MP, Minister of State for Defra; Libby Woodhatch – who has recently been appointed as Chair of IFFO RS – delivering the annual Drummond Lecture; and some personal reflections from Essex oyster growing stalwart Allan Bird.
Brexit tops the agenda for Day 2, with Netherlands Embassy Agricultural Counsellor, Tim Heddema, giving a keynote speech about the Dutch perspective on seafood trade with the UK post-Brexit, while Mike Berthet from the Global Aquaculture Alliance, will discuss how SAGB members can hope to gain Best Aquaculture Practice certification.
As ever the event also provides plenty of opportunity to sample Britain’s finest shellfish, with the black tie fundraising dinner set to feature an extravagant seafood menu, prepared by Stefan Pini, featuring brown and spider crab from Devon, Scottish langoustines and scallops, Essex cockles and Cornish mussels. The guest speaker for the evening will be Nigel Braden, the seafood lover best known for his culinary show on BBC Radio 2.
SAGB Director, David Jarrad, said: "Naturally, with the Brexit clock ticking, as an industry, we face many challenges. However, at SAGB we also perceive it as a time of many opportunities, which need recognising and grasping. We hope that our 2018 conference will not only answer many questions for our members, but inspire them too, for the future of UK shellfish."
“I’d especially like to thank all our sponsors this year - Seafish, Natural England, EMYG, SEPAmatic, Fowey Shellfish and The Welsh Government – for their generosity,” he added.
