NORWAY
NASF 2018: The ďŹ sh industry’s responsibility for global food supply is growing
Sustainable use of resources is the central guideline With an annual trade value of more than 150 billion USD seafood products are today already one of the most traded commodities in the world and their signiďŹ cance will continue to grow. At the beginning of March, some 900 experts and executives from the global seafood industry met at the 13th North Atlantic Seafood Forum (NASF) in Bergen, Norway, to discuss the ensuing opportunities and challenges for ďŹ sheries, aquaculture, processors and trading companies.
T
he world’s population is expected to grow to 10 billion people by 2050, and feeding this huge number will push today’s food production systems to their limits. The FAO has declared that food production must increase by 50 by the year 2050 if future nutritional needs are to be met. All the available land is already being used to the full, however. This makes it clear that marine aquaculture is going to have to make a larger contribution to the growth of food production than it has so far. And the fact that aquatic animal proteins are of particularly high nutritional value and that the production of fish, shellfish, crustaceans or algae has less impact on the environment than animal husbandry also points to a more important role for aquaculture in the sustainable nutrition of the world in the future. This development and the growth in world trade together offer enormous economic potential but at the same time place more responsibility on the global fish industry. These topics defined the framework of the 13th NASF, this time under the programmatic title "Seafood Trade and Market Access - Seafood in a New Geopolitical Role". The North Atlantic Seafood Forum, the largest and probably most important conference for global
46
NASF, the largest conference for international ďŹ sh industry executives, attracts more than 900 participants from 300 companies and 35 countries to Bergen every year.
fish industry executives, attracts more than 900 participants from 300 companies in over 35 countries every year. The event lasted three days and comprised 16 sessions during which some 150 top-class speakers presented their views on key topics in the fish industry: innovations, technology, research, politics, finance, trade and commercialisation – hardly any topic was missing. In addition, the NASF’s social fringe programme gave participants ample opportunity to make contacts and discuss
key issues facing the industry, worthwhile financing opportunities, or new technologies.
Norway to triple seafood production by 2030 The central, all-embracing ideas that ran like a thread through lectures and discussions were sustainability and climate and environmental protection in all areas of the fish industry. Representatives from science, politics and business agreed that future
developments will only meet with public acceptance if they respect these goals. This already became clear on the introductory day, i.e. the day before the main conference, at the sustainability seminar where these concerns were in the foreground. Ă…smund Bjordal from the Norwegian Institute for Marine Research pointed out that our oceans are not only threatened by overfishing but that global warming and pollution also have a negative impact on marine ecosystems. The fish industry was
www.eurofishmagazine.com
' % & -0**