North Atlantic Seafood Forum
Views from the top
This year’s NASF brought together an impressive line-up BY ROBERT OUTRAM
goal “isThe clear –
T
he ocean could save us all – but we will have to save it first. That was the message from Norway’s Prime Minister Erna Solberg, speaking last month at the North Atlantic Seafood Forum. This year the NASF, the world’s largest top executive seafood business conference, was held entirely online. While this no doubt curtailed the networking opportunities, it certainly did not detract from the high level speakers, from business, government and the academic world, who were lined up to share their insights. Erna Solberg provided the political driving force behind the High Level Ocean Panel, which has brought together senior politicians and policymakers from 14 countries around the world to commit to finding solutions for the challenge of ocean sustainability. Every dollar invested in the blue economy could yield five in return, she said, and help with carbon reduction. But the oceans are under stress, she said., and a concerted international effort is required to halt the decline. She said: “The goal is clear – to build a sustainable blue economy. Blue growth must be based on the principle of sustainable ocean management… together we have an opportunity to give a blue boost to the economy, while building resilience against future crises.” Also speaking at the conference, Peter Haugen, co-chair of the Ocean Panel Expert Group said there is a risk that declining ocean health could cost the global economy more than $400bn annually by 2050 and $2trn by 2100. If not managed, the annual yield from fishing
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to build a sustainable blue economy
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could fall by 16% by 2050. Nina Jensen, CEO of not-for-profit organisation REV Ocean talked about REV’s project to create a Research Expedition Vessel as an asset for scientists to study issues like climate change and plastic pollution in the oceans. Also addressing the topic of sustainability was Dr Samuel Thevasagayam, deputy director, agriculture development with the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. He stressed the importance of fish in feeding the world – more than three million people consume at least 20% of their animal protein in the form of fish He said: “The ocean is a life source. It sustains us with oxygen, food, medicine and livelihoods.” The Forum also heard from senior figures around the world, on topics including aquaculture, food processing, sustainability, marketing and how to deal with the threat of sea lice. Speakers included top executives from some of the biggest names in fish farming. Trine Sæther Romuld, CEO Salmar Ocean (and also Chief Financial Officer and Chief Operating Officer with SalMar), talked about SalMar’s investment in offshore farming and confirmed that the company is going ahead with its Ocean Farm 2 project, which is close the end of its “pre-engineering” phase. The opportunities are great, she argued, since the areas that have been identified [as suitable for farming] in the open ocean are greater than all the production areas in coastal Norway. She added: “Going offshore is building on our fundamentals.” Bjarne Johansen Project Manager, Havfarm with Nordlaks and Kåre Olav Krogenes, project leader for Nova Sea’s Spidercage, also gave updates on their companies’ offshore projects. Ivan Vindheim, CEO with Mowi, said he would not be surprised to see further consolidation in the industry. He added that volume growth is the key driver – neither Mowi nor the industry as a whole had been
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12/07/2021 14:13:23
