Taking place on the University of Stirling campus, the inaugural conference is an occasion that complements the biennial Aquaculture UK Exhibition and is set to include an impressive array of over 30 speakers, representing both industry and academia.
The event will be opened by Stewart Graham, founder, owner and MD of Gael Force, who will be able to offer delegates a unique insight into the progress of the Industry Leadership Group (ILG) on aquaculture, which he co-chairs, and which aims to help the Scottish aquaculture sector double in value by 2030.
“The keynote speech will offer a full overview of our progress so far of the 2030 strategy,” he says. “The conference presents an ideal stepping-stone for the delivery of Scotland’s aquaculture growth and to allow delegates, speakers and other stakeholders to train their focus on this goal.”
Other topics to be covered will include production, breeding and genetics, nutrition, health and welfare – the full programme can be accessed here.
“We decided to develop a conference in the years in between the exhibition, and Aquaculture UK 2017 is the first of these,” explains Nigel Balmforth, who arranged the speaker programme.
“The conference theme is ‘Growing Together’, building on the enthusiasm and positivity of Aquaculture UK 2016 and providing a forum for knowledge exchange. The conference theme mirrors the industry’s current focus on how collaboration and forward thinking can inform priority setting, in turn enabling growth while maintaining the highest standards in animal welfare and product quality,” adds Nigel, who is also Head of Publishing at 5m.
“The aim of the conference is to inform and to provide a forum for collaboration through a series of cutting-edge presentations and interactive discussions. The session chairs represent many of the universities and research establishments which have key aquaculture industry partners, and are at the forefront of the UK’s aquaculture innovation, teaching and research,” Nigel continues.
While the conference is designed to complement the Aquaculture UK Exhibition, it is set up in a way that should allow delegates the chance to network freely without being tied down to an exhibition stand.
“The Aquaculture UK brand now has annual events – alternating between a conference and an exhibition. The conference is designed to allow contributors and delegates to network without the pressure of exhibiting – we deliberately haven’t included an exhibition so that attendees have that opportunity,” reflects Susan Tinch, who has been integral in setting up the new event for Aquaculture UK.
Registration for the conference is now open and delegates can register here.
