Update from Boston
We are all just returning from a trip to the Seafood Expo North America/Seafood Processing North America in Boston, USA. The Seafood Expo is an exciting event – the largest seafood trade show in all of North America. The Expo attracts over 20,000 buyers and suppliers of fresh, frozen, packaged and value-added seafood products, equipment, and services. Attendees travel from more than 100 countries to network, learn, and do business at the exposition.
The Pacific Alliance for Sustainable Tuna team – staff and founding members – was proud to be part of the Mexican Pavilion featuring many top seafood products from Mexico. We joined an impressive group of companies, entrepreneurs and government officials from all across Mexico. The official Mexican delegation was fortunate to include Lic. Mario Aguilar, the Commissioner of the National Commission of Aquaculture and Fisheries (CONAPESCA), Pablo Arenas, the new General Director of the National Fisheries Institute (INAPESCA), Luis Fleischer, CONAPESCA’s representative at the Embassy of Mexico in Washington, D.C. as well as representatives from many Mexican states, like Matías Arjona Rydalch, head of the Secretaría de Pesca y Acuacultura del Estado de Baja California Sur, and top representatives from the industry, like Fernando Medrano, President of the Board of Directors of the National Chamber of Fisheries Aquaculture of Mexico. This was the strongest showing by the Mexican Government in support of the industry in 15 years.
Our member companies Grupomar, Pesca Azteca and Procesa all brought large teams to staff their exhibits, which saw a lot of visitors looking to sample products and learn more about Mexican seafood. We were joined in the Mexican Pavilion by interesting companies like Sol Azul, a company from the state of Baja California Sur that farm oysters in an environmentally sensitive way.
Overall, we were very pleased to see a notable trend toward sustainability at this year’s show. The Pacific Alliance for Sustainable Tuna and our member companies know that without concerted efforts from fishing companies around the globe to operate sustainably and collaborate on conservation initiatives, we will see declining fish stocks. Bringing more companies to the table to work on sustainability issues is critical to the future health of the oceans. The increased focus on sustainability, sustainable fishing methods and eco-labels was encouraging.
There were many sessions focused on sustainability, including interesting education sessions lead by the Marine Stewardship Council, the global leader in certifying wild-caught seafood for sustainability. Click here for an overview of the various education initiatives at this year’s show.
Thanks for reading and check back with us soon for more reports from the road.