The second and main day of the II Global Fishery Forum and Seafood Expo was held at the ExpoForum Exhibition and Convention Centre in St. Petersburg on 14 September.
During the opening ceremony of the forum and expo, Russian Minister of Agriculture Dmitry Patrushev read out a welcoming address from Russian President Vladimir Putin to the event’s participants and guests, and delivered a speech to the delegates of the GFF 2018. The ceremony was attended by Russian Deputy Minister of Agriculture and Director of the Federal Agency for Fishery Ilya Shestakov, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Fisheries of the Faroe Islands Høgni Hoydal, Minister for Agriculture, Maritime Fisheries, Rural Development and 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, Aquaculture, and Maritime Economy of the Republic of Guinea Frederic Loua, Deputy Minister of Agricultural Development of the Islamic Republic of Iran and Director of the Shilat Organization for Fisheries and Fish Farming of Iran Hassan Salehi, Deputy Governor of St. Petersburg Sergey Movchan, and ExpoForum-International Deputy General Director for Commerce Sergey Volkov.
«The fishing industry is one of the most important in the Russian economy and is of strategic importance for ensuring the country’s food security. Serious attention needs to be paid to international cooperation for the well-balanced organization of fisheries, market development, and the realization of export potential. This is why there is a need today to hold such events as the Global Fishery Forum, which is a key platform for discussing industry trends», Patrushev said.
The honorary guests conducted a walk-through of the expo and discussed key issues facing the industry at the plenary session ‘Global fishing activities 2050: Resources, markets, technologies’. Leading international scientists, politicians, experts, and businessmen examined the long-term prospects for the development of global fisheries industry, taking into account the shortage in aquatic biological resources, their uneven distribution, and the development of aquaculture.
The speakers at the session included Russian Deputy Minister of Agriculture and Head of the Federal Agency for Fishery Ilya Shestakov, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Fisheries of the Faroe Islands Høgni Hoydal, Deputy Director for Policies in Fisheries, Aquaculture, and Resources of the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) Audun Lem, Vancouver Island University (Nanaimo, Canada) Professor Dr. Richard Beamish, General Secretary of the International Council for the Exploration of the Sea (ICES) Anne Christine Brusendorff, Minister for Agriculture, Maritime Fisheries, Rural Development and Water and Forests of the Kingdom of Morocco Aziz Akhannouch, Adviser and Envoy from the Embassy of the Kingdom of Denmark in Russia Bjørn Kunoy, and United Shipbuilding Corporation President Alexey Rakhmanov.
«Despite the high level of competition for aquatic bioresources around the world, countries need to jointly solve the problem of ensuring global food security while preventing the excessive exploitation of the world’s oceans. In particular, we need to discuss the possibilities of developing species and new marine areas that have not yet been explored. New technologies that allow for effectively utilizing this important resource are essential in this regard», Shestakov said during the plenary session.
The ‘Resources’ roundtable, which was attended by representatives of the All-Russian Research Institute for Fisheries and Oceanography (VNIRO), the North Pacific Anadromous Fish Commission (NPAFC), the University of Vancouver, the Faroe Marine Research Institute, the Fisheries Agency of Japan, and others, focused on projections of the amount of resources that are available to fishermen before 2050, an assessment of long-term risks, the role of international cooperation in regulating and conserving bioresources, and the partnership between science and business in preserving aquatic bioresources as a source of food and fodder for future generations.
Participants in the ‘Aquaculture: 2050 breeding and development forecast’ roundtable discussed the prospects for aquaculture as an important component for the sustainable development of different territories. Currently, aquaculture produces over 45% of fish and seafood consumed and is regarded by the global community as the foundation for functional nutrition and biotechnology. Representatives of the government authorities as well as research and production organizations noted the importance and potential of developing aquaculture and the need to maintain the quality, safety, and eco-friendliness of products as well as the preservation of biological diversity.
The Russian Federation and the Republic of Guinea concluded an intergovernmental agreement on cooperation in the fisheries sector and aquaculture during the GFF 2018. The documents were signed by Russian Deputy Minister of Agriculture and Head of the Federal Agency for Fishery Ilya Shestakov and Minister of Fisheries, Aquaculture, and Maritime Economy of the Republic of Guinea Frederic Loua.
On the second day of the event, the Russian Federal Agency for Fishery and the Administration of Water Resources of the Republic of Panama signed a Memorandum of Understanding on cooperation in fisheries and aquaculture. The document was signed by Ilya Shestakov and Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Republic of Panama Lekaro Barcenas.
On 14 September, an offsite event was held on the sidelines of the forum at the Severnaya Verf shipbuilding plant, with a keel laying ceremony for a fishing vessel with design capacity of 25 tonnes of fish a day. The ceremony was attended by Dmitry Patrushev, Ilya Shestakov, and other honoured guests.
The Seafood Expo Russia is continuing today. The event’s exposition area offers a presentation of the full cycle of the fisheries industry: fishing and processing companies, equipment manufacturers, shipbuilding companies, shipyards and plants, trade and government organizations, and professional associations. The expo’s guests can take video excursions to leading enterprises of the Russian fishing industry, visit the expo’s main multimedia feature — an interactive tunnel that uses audiovisual equipment to take guests inside a bathyscaphe so they can plunge deep into the ocean, and enjoy the 3D presentation ‘12 Centuries of Russian Fisheries’. The first fish fast food restaurant Russian Fish also has a booth in the expo area. The expo has total area of 13,000 square metres.
The business programme of the GFF 2018 will continue on 15 September. The programme includes the ‘Global consumers market’ conference, the «Russian fish: A strategy for promoting Russian fish products on the Russian market» conference, the ‘Fishing industry technologies. The problem of food loss and waste’ roundtable, the opening of the International Year of Salmon, and an awards ceremony for winners of the ‘Best fish product’ contest.
The II Global Fishery Forum and Seafood Expo are being held in St. Petersburg on 13–15 September at the ExpoForum Convention and Exhibition Centre. The Federal Agency for Fishery is the event’s organizer, and the Roscongress Foundation is the Forum’s operator.
