SFP in Barcelona

Seafood Expo Global

Highlights from Seafood Expo Global 2022

Seafood Expo Global, the world’s largest seafood trade fair, was held for the first time in Barcelona, from April 26-28, 2022, and SFP was there.

See below for highlights from the show.

FishSource Celebrates 15 Years, New Collaboration with FAO

FishSource

In Barcelona, we celebrated the 15th anniversary of FishSource, SFP’s one-of-a-kind public online resource with profiles on thousands of fisheries and dozens of aquaculture regions. The FishSource platform allows users to identify source fish stocks and fisheries, know how well a fishery is managed and its status, and understand supply risks, including environmental and labor issues. SFP created and launched FishSource 15 years ago at Seafood Expo Global in Brussels, in response to demand by major seafood buyers for up-to-date information on fisheries and aquaculture sustainability.

During the Expo, we also announced that the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) is adopting the standards used in FishSource to establish unique, standardized IDs for all of the world’s major fisheries. The universal FAO IDs will be publicly available and will standardize data collection and identification of fisheries and stocks.

SFP Events and Panels

David Comesaña (Congalsa), Ana Fernández (Cabomar), Juan Radini (CAPA), Elfa López (Alfrío), and Stefano Pagliai (Panapesca USA) at the MoU signing

The Argentine Chamber of Jigger Fishing Vessels Shipowners (CAPA) and a group of six international squid buyers signed an MoU at the Expo, recognizing the support provided by the companies during the development of the new Argentine Shortfin Squid – jig fishery improvement project (FIP), which will be led by CAPA. The six companies, all members of SFP’s Global Squid Supply Chain Roundtable (SR), include Alfrío, Cabomar, Congalsa, Lund’s Fisheries, Panapesca USA, and Sysco France. The MoU allows these six companies to become full members of the FIP in its first year, as part of efforts to bring more sustainable products to European and US retailers. The FIP is currently prospective, aiming to meet the requirements for active FIPs before the end of 2022. SFP is actively supporting CAPA to move the FIP to an active status as soon as possible.

Pre-competitive collaboration panel at SEafood Expo Global

Oliver Tanqueray of ClientEarth, Sarah Hussey of Sea Farms Ltd., SFP’s EU Markets Director Carmen Gonzalez-Valles, and Quentin Marchais of ClientEarth

SFP’s EU Markets Director Carmen Gonzalez-Valles participated in a conference panel at the Expo on 10 Years of Pre-competitive Collaboration in the Seafood Supply Chain: What Have we Learned? Client Earth reviewed its work with the Sustainable Seafood Coalition, a partnership of UK businesses that have been working together since 2011 to ensure healthy oceans and sustainable seafood. Gonzalez-Valles discussed the achievements of the Squid IUU Prevention Working Group, which was formed by members of the Global Squid Supply Chain Roundtable (SR), and the challenges, and limitations of such collaborations and the importance of partnerships between industry and NGOs. Sarah Hussey, fisheries manager at Sea Farms Ltd. and industry chair of the Global Squid , added that a key lesson learned from establishment of the working group is the importance of building trust among participants.

Fisheries researcher Gilles Hosch

Members of SFP’s Global Squid Supply Chain Roundtable (SR) Squid IUU Prevention Group reviewed the status of squid fisheries around the world and analyzed the liabilities faced by importers and suppliers under EU IUU regulations during a panel at the Expo. The event began with a presentation by fisheries expert and researcher Gilles Hosch on risks to industry from widespread illegal, unreported, and unregulated (IUU) fishing. The presentation was followed by a panel session with Alfonso Miranda of CALAMASUR, David Comesaña of Congalsa and Huw Thomas of 3 Pillars Seafood discussing the issues and risks for different levels of the supply chain.

SFP CEO Participates in Review of Progress in Northern Cod FIP

SFP CEO Jim Cannon participated in a meeting in Barcelona that highlighted updates from Canada’s Northern Cod fishery improvement project (FIP). A central feature of the FIP is the Northern Cod Acoustic Tracking Project, developed by two Canadian producer organizations, the Association of Seafood Producers (ASP) and the Atlantic Groundfish Council (AGC), in cooperation with scientists, academia, government, and NGOs. Hundreds of codfish have been tagged with acoustic tags, to track annual migrations and increase understanding of the stock.

“This industry-led FIP and its world-class acoustic research project represents an impressive collaboration between industry, academics and government in order to improve knowledge and management of marine resources,” Cannon said.

In addition to SFP, ASP, and AGC, participants included the Marine Stewardship Council (MSC) and industry representatives from Marks & Spencer, Youngs Seafoods, Sysco France, High Liner Foods, Ocean Choice International, and Icewater Seafoods, as well as Canadian government representatives from Fisheries and Oceans Canada, and the Government of Newfoundland and Labrador.

Acoustic receivers deployed in Eastern Canadian waters track information from tagged codfish.

More SFP events

The AIP Directory

SFP’s Aquaculture Markets Engagement Contractor Elena Piana gave a presentation on the AIP Directory at a Global Seafood Alliance meeting that took place during the Expo. Piana explained how the AIP Directory helps the seafood industry work together toward the common objective of adopting aquaculture improvement projects (AIPs) in supply chains. Industry stakeholders at the meeting welcomed the idea and recognized how the AIP Directory allows for the development of a common language across the industry about AIPs, and provides a central reference point for reporting and identification of all ongoing AIPs globally.

Changing Tastes event at Seafood Expo Global 2022

Arlin Wasserman of Changing Tastes

At a joint event, hosted by SFP and food consultancy Changing Tastes, Arlin Wasserman, founder and managing director of Changing Tastes, talked about trends and opportunities for octopus in the US market and ways to improve the market for sustainable octopus.

SFP at the Expo

SFP in the News

SFP and our partners were featured in several news stories coming out of the Expo:

FishFocus highlighted FishSource’s 15th anniversary.
The signing of the Argentine shortfin squid FIP MoU was featured in Seafood Source and Pescare, an Argentinian news site.
The Northern cod FIP meeting was featured in Undercurrent News and Seafood News.