Global Fishery Forum & Seafood Expo

The 2nd Global Fishery Forum & Seafood Expo Russia, the Russian fishery sector’s key event, has concluded in St. Petersburg. Leading businesspersons, members of fisheries organizations, heads of sectoral agencies from around the world have assembled at the Forum that has become a crucial venue for discussions in the professional community. For the second year running, Russian and foreign experts demonstrated their high interest in the Global Fishery Forum. Over 1,100 Forum delegates and over 3,000 exhibitors and Expo visitors attended GFF 2018. Participants from 42 foreign countries came to the Forum from, among other countries, Germany, Iceland, Japan, Mauritania, Morocco, Norway, the Republic if Guinea, South Korea, the US. Over 150 Russian and foreign journalists were accredited to the event. “The Global Fishery Forum has become a truly key event for both the Russian fishery industry and the global sectoral community. I am confident that the Forum’s dialog between members of the authorities, businesses, and fishery experts will make it possible to take the discussion of topical issues in the global fish market to the level of making key decisions in the sector,” said Anton Kobyakov, Russian Presidential Adviser. Deputy Prime Minister and Fisheries Minister of the Faroe Islands Høgni Hoydal, Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries, Rural Development, Water and Forests of the Kingdom of Morocco Aziz Akhannouch, Minister of Fisheries of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea Song Chun Sop, Minister of Fisheries and Aquaculture and Marine Economy of the Republic of Guinea Fredéric Loua, Deputy Minister of Jihad-e Agriculture and the Head of Iran Fisheries Organization (SHILAT) Hassan Salehi, Deputy Director for Policies in Fisheries, Aquaculture, and Resources of the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) Audun Lem, Emeritus Scientist at the Pacific Biological Station Dr. Richard Beamish, General Secretary of the International Council for the Exploration of the Sea (ICES) Anne Christine Brusendorff, President of the North Pacific Anadromous Fish Commission (NPAFC) Suam Kim, President of the North Atlantic Salmon Conservation Organization (NASCO) Jóannes Hansen, President of the EU Fish Processors and Traders Association and the European Federation of National Organizations of Importers and Exporters of Fish Guus Pastoor were among the foreign dignitaries attending the Forum.

As part of the 2nd Global Fishery Forum, a conference was held under the title Shipbuilding 2050: A Peek Into the Future. The experts discussed aspects of raising the economic efficiency of fishing by using modern vessels, applying other latest technologies and safety of global fishing. At the opening, a welcome speech was given by Lyudmila Talabaeva, Member of the Federation Council of the Federal Assembly of the Russian Federation; Member of the Federation Council Committee on Agrarian and Food Policy and Environmental Management. “Leading global companies are endeavouring to be socially responsible. Above all, it is a matter of producing quality output, respecting the environment and local people. We have introduced government support for enterprises building fish-processing plants and high-tech fishing vessels, meaning that quality and available fish will appear. The fishing industry complex will become an example of a socially responsible business,” Lyudmila Talabaeva noted.

A Magadan shrimp burger and fried sprat will be on the menu at Russia’s first fish fast food restaurant scheduled to open at the exhibition area of the II Global Fishery Forum & Seafood Expo Russia. Operating under the Russian Fish brand name, the restaurant will emulate the format of global fast food chains. Four cash registers will be relaying orders to the kitchen in real time, with more than ten cooks scrambling to get the meals over the counter in minutes’ time. The Russian Fish menu features two kinds of burgers – white fish and shrimp, cod liver and calamari salads, smoked fish soup and tom yam, as well as pollack with home-cooked potatoes on the side and crucian cutlets. Fried sprats in tartar sauce will serve as an alternative to popular potato fries. All meals will be prepared from Russian-sourced fish only using special recipes by the Fahrenheit restaurant chef Viktor Titov.

Experts from around the world will discuss pressing problems in sustainable exploration of fish resources and ensuring food security for the Earth’s growing population at the 2nd Global Fishery Forum. The Forum’s keynote topic is ‘Global fishing activities 2050: resources, markets, technologies’. Members of international food and fisheries organizations, specialized ministries from the leading fishery powers, and cutting-edge fishery companies will discuss ways to ensure the long-term development of the fishery industry, current global challenges, and possible problems stemming from a shortage of fish resources in 2050, when the planet’s population is expected to reach 9.8 billion. The Forum’s opening ceremony will be held on 14 September and will be attended by Russian Minister of Agriculture Dmitry Patrushev, Russian Deputy Minister of Agriculture and Federal Agency for Fishery Director Ilya Shestakov, Deputy Prime Minister and Fisheries Minister of the Faroe Islands Høgni Hoydal, Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries, Rural Development, Water, and Forests of the Kingdom of Morocco Aziz Akhannouch, Minister of Fisheries and Maritime Economy of the Islamic Republic of Mauritania Nani Ould Chrougha, Minister of Fisheries of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea Song Chun Sop, and Minister of Fisheries and Aquaculture and Marine Economy of the Republic of Guinea Fredéric Loua. Following the ceremony, the ministers and heads of fisheries industry agencies will tour the Forum’s exhibition.

The Seafood Expo that will be held during the 2nd Global Fishery Forum in St. Petersburg, will debut intelligent multimedia equipment created specifically for the event by leading Russian media content developers. At the entrance area to the Expo, guests will be able to take an interactive tour of leading enterprises in the Russian industry. Three large screens will display figures and infographics about the history, achievements, and prospects of the South Kuril Fish Factory, the Vostok 1 Collective Fishery Farm, the Karelian Fishing Fleet, and Russian Fishery Company. The video presentations will be accompanied by trained specialists who will provide extensive details about the companies’ production capacities, vessels, and fish products. The same zone will feature the Expo’s central multimedia attraction – an interactive tunnel in which visitors find themselves in an underwater world where they can see its inhabitants reacting to their movements. This effect comes from special sensors installed on a modern multimedia grid that transmits high quality images. An infographic will also be broadcast in the tunnel about the Karelian fishing fleet and the oldest Russian fishing industry enterprise –Ozernovsk Fish Cannery No. 55, which this year is celebrating its 90th anniversary.

According to forecasts by the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), climate change in the world will result in a significant redistribution of the main industry bodies by 2050 and this will affect the activities of many fishing companies and the economies of the world fishing powers. The report “Impacts of climate change on fisheries and aquaculture. Synthesis of current knowledge, adaptation and mitigation options” was drawn up with the participation of over a hundred scientists and includes both new research and a unique synthesis of the latest scientific information. The FAO estimates that the fishing production potential in the 200-mile exclusive economic zones to which each coastal country has special rights might fall by an average of 12%. The biggest drop is expected in the zones of tropical countries, mainly in the southern part of the Pacific Ocean. At higher latitudes, the potential catch will most likely rise. ВAt the same time, even in the regions where the greatest harm will be inflicted, the catch will go up if the countries take appropriate adaptive measures and apply effective methods for fishery management.

A specialized business platform called Procurement Networking that aims to develop direct contacts between manufacturers of fish products and retailers will be organized for the first time at the Seafood Expo, which will be held in tandem with the 2nd Global Fishery Forum in St. Petersburg. Experts on fish and seafood procurements from such retail companies as Х5 Retail Group (Pyaterochka, Perekrestok, Karusel), Lenta, Metro, VkusVill, Azbuka Vkusa, Diksi, LAND, Begemot, Rybset, and Chitinka, among others, will take part in Procurement Networking. This platform will provide Seafood Expo participants with all the information they need about cooperation terms and conditions, procurement policy and supply requirements for retail networks in a face-to-face environment, which will help to establish business contacts between fishery producers and retail representatives and will provide an impetus for a new partnership.

The conference “Shipbuilding 2050: A Glance Into the Future” will be held on 13 September in St. Petersburg as part of the business programme of the 2nd Global Fishery Forum. The event will feature a discussion of topical issues facing the Russian and global shipbuilding industry and prospects for its long-term development. One of the main themes will be enhancing the economic efficiency of fishing through the use of modern vessels and fishing gear as well as innovations in shipbuilding and technological equipment. The meeting participants will examine possible measures of state support for building a fishing fleet at domestic shipyards and market financing tools, including leasing. They will pay special attention to ways to combat illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing and its impact on the safety of fishing vessels and the working conditions of fishermen. The conference will be attended by representatives of the UN Food and Agriculture Organization, the UN International Maritime Organization, the Federal Agency for Fishery, the Russian Ministry of Industry and Trade, the Federation Council as well as shipbuilding and fishing companies from Russia, Norway, Iceland, Germany, the UK, Italy and Turkey.

The Asia-Pacific region will be broadly represented by delegations from East Asia and North America at the 2nd Global Fishery Forum. Leaders and representatives of fishing industry ministries and institutions as well as various fishing and manufacturing companies from China, the Republic of Korea, Japan, and the Philippines will attend the event. Fisheries have historically played an important role in Asia-Pacific nations. “There is serious potential for increasing production volumes in the Pacific Ocean, and there are great investment prospects associated with this fact. Cooperation with countries of the Asia-Pacific region, exchanging experience, and working on joint projects are activities of significant mutually beneficial interest,” Russian Deputy Minister of Agriculture and Director of the Federal Agency for Fishery Ilya Shestakov said. Deputy Minister for Oceans and Fisheries of the Republic of Korea Seung-Hwan Cho and Director of the Resources Management Department at the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry, and Fisheries of Japan Koya Takashi are expected to take part the Forum.

At the Global Fishery Forum & Seafood Expo 2018, there will be an opening ceremony for International Year of the Salmon, which has been established by the world community of scientists and ecologists and will include a series of events designed to resolve the problems of maintaining global stocks of these types of fish. The International Year of the Salmon opening ceremony will be held on the Forum’s third day and will be attended by Deputy Minister of Agriculture and head of the Federal Agency for Fishery Ilya Shestakov, NASCO President Jóannes Hansen, NPAFC President Suam Kim, NPAFC Executive Director Vladimir Radchenko, Director of the Russian Research Institute of Fisheries and Oceanography (VNIRO) Kirill Kolochin and Director of WWF Russia Igor Chestin. Specialists first spoke of the need for this project over ten years ago. Co-operation between countries will create an opportunity to clarify many aspects of the ecology of salmon, the study of which requires considerable resources considering the salmon’s extensive natural habitat and their complex life cycle. Within the scope of International Year of the Salmon, from autumn 2018 to the end of 2019, it is planned to implement a complex of measures base on proposals made by the North Pacific Anadromous Fish Commission (NPAFC) and the North Atlantic Salmon Conservation Organization (NASCO). The programme includes scientific expeditions and other events designed, among other things, to popularize research and ecological education, to develop exchange of information about the state of popularization and the industry. An important component of the project remains the fight against the illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing and to control the fish catch.