Global Fishery Forum Discusses Industry Outlook

- The 2nd Global Fishery Forum & Seafood Expo Russia, the national fishery sector's premier event, took place in St. Petersburg on 13-15 September 2018.      (Photo: https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/745108/Roscongress_Global_Fishery_Forum.jpg ) More than 3,000 business leaders, fisheries representatives and government officials from Denmark, Germany, Iceland, Italy, Canada, China, Morocco, Norway, the Faroe Islands, Japan and elsewhere attended the Forum. Agriculture Minister Dmitry Patrushev read a welcome address from President Vladimir Putin. Deputy Agriculture Minister and Head of the Federal Fishery Agency Ilya Shestakov, leaders of sectoral agencies of the Faroe Islands and Morocco, UN (FAO) experts, the Pacific Biological Station, the International Council for the Exploration of the Sea, and the Embassy of Denmark spoke at the "Global fishing activities 2050: resources, markets, technologies" plenary session. Attendees discussed competition in the World Ocean, aquatic bioresources reserves and the prospects of aquaculture given the Earth's growing population. Pressing issues were discussed at panel sessions "Issues in commercial straddling stocks fishing activities,""Shipbuilding 2050: A peek into the future," "Resources,""Aquaculture: 2050 breeding and development forecast,""Global consumer markets,"  "Russian fish: a strategy for promoting Russian fish products on the Russian market," and "Fishery technologies: the food loss and food waste problem." Important agreements were signed between Russia and Guinea, Russia's Federal Fishery Agency and the Aquatic Resources Authority of Panama, and FOR Group and Lenta. The Expo showcased fishing, processing, trading and shipbuilding companies, equipment manufacturers, government agencies and trade associations. Visitors tasted products, took part in a video tour of leading Russian companies, experienced an interactive tunnel and took part in a 3D presentation "120 Years of Russia's Fishing Industry." The Expo featured joint booths of the Arkhangelsk, Astrakhan and Kaliningrad regions, Karelia and Tatarstan and the Azov and Black Sea fishery basin, as well as national booths of Norway, Iceland, Morocco and Argentina. Its 13,000 square meters hosted 180 companies, including 122 from Russia. Russian Fish, Russia's first fish fast-food restaurant, operated in the expo area. Construction on a 30 ton/day fishing vessel was started (Dmitry Patrushev, Ilya Shestakov and Arkhangelsk Region Governor Igor Orlov took part in the ceremony), the International Year of Salmon, established by academics and environmentalists, was inaugurated, and winners of the all-Russia competition "The Best Fish Product" were announced. The event was organized by the Federal Fishery Agency, and the Forum was operated by Roscongress Foundation. TheGlobal Fishery Forum official website is athttp://www.fishexpoforum.com