Eurofish Magazine celebrates its 20th anniversary this issue with a look back at events in the fisheries and aquaculture sector over the last 20 years. Country coverage includes Romania, Latvia, and Russia while the species profile focuses on carp.
Read the issue on www.EurofishMagazine.com
Adding value to a product is a way, among others, of expanding the market, distinguishing the product from its competitors, and charging a higher price. Adding value can, for example, transform a block of frozen fish into a refined product with a unit price for higher than that of the original block. However, value adding also applies to relatively simple procedures, such as grading and icing the fish when it arrives on board a fishing vessel, that can give the fisherman a higher price for his catch. Processing in this way is desirable for the opportunities it offers to increase the value of the raw material and thereby increase incomes.
Globally, carps dominate freshwater farmed finfish production, whereas in the EU they form less than a third. European producers are trying to find ways of promoting the nutritional, environmental, social, and cultural values of carp farming in Europe. The International Carp Conference, an event launched by fish farmers’ associations from Central and Eastern Europe six years ago, was hosted this year by the Croatian Chamber of Economy in Zagreb on September 21-22. More than 150 carp farmers from Croatia, the Czech Republic, Germany, Hungary, Poland, Romania, and Serbia met to share their experiences and to identify solutions to common problems at this fourth edition of the event.
Debates were focused on production and market data and trends, consumer perception analyses, improvements in traditional farming systems, as well as on the impact of climate change on carp production. Eurofish’s Ekaterina Tribilustova gave a presentation on consumer perception of farmed fish in Croatia, while other presentations covered Poland, Romania and Hungary’s use of the EMFF to support carp farming; and the economic losses caused to pond farming by protected fish-eating birds (such as cormorants).
Expanding international markets for Turkish farmed fish
As one of the services to its member countries, Eurofish International Organisation occasionally facilitates the participation of delegations at trade fairs around Europe. The Global Seafood Forum and Seafood Expo held in St. Petersburg, Russia on 14-16 September 2017 and organized by Expo Solutions Group together with Roscongress was a good opportunity to bring a delegation of officials and traders from Turkey to Russia. It gave the participants an opportunity both to explore the Russian seafood market and to introduce their products and services.
The 5th Seafood Quality congress, focused on addressing new consumption challenges, was held in Madrid, Spain on 28 June 2017. The event was co-organised by the Spanish Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries, Food and Environment and EUROFISH International Organisation. It was officially opened by Alberto López-Asenjo García, General Secretary for Fisheries, who stressed the need to improve the current practices of waste management and better communication with the general public and especially groups of younger consumers.
The programme explored the prospects for innovations in consumption, consumer outreach and various elements of circular economy.
Insight into the international framework, including the role of certification in the seafood industry, EU consumer habits and consumption trends of farmed fish in the Mediterranean, was presented by José Estors Carballo from FAO, Frangiscos Nikolian from the European Commission and Ekaterina Tribilustova from EUROFISH International Organisation.