In this week's The Update, we're reflecting on the Seafood Directions Conference in Hobart, which took place 10-12 September. The event brought together 550 delegates from across Australia, to learn about and engage on important topics close to their hearts, from sustainability to how to help consumers eat more seafood.
Seafood is health food. There were many big and bold messages that stood out at Seafood Directions 2024, but that one was the biggest. It came through from the start, in the words of the Leader of the House in Tasmania, Minister Eric Abetz. It came through the entire presentation of American Grant Prentice from FoodMinds. He has worked with everyone from Norwegian seafood exporters to Disney and he talked on day two of the Conference about what the industry isn't saying enough.
"Seafood is healthy AND protective. There's a reason the Mediterranean diet works and seafood is part of that," says Grant. He spoke strongly about how we need to show consumers the science around health and nutrition, it is our strongest marketing point along with things like great taste and convenience (yes, it really is easy to cook fish).
Grant also said, "You're not in the fishing industry, you're in the business of feeding people and keeping them healthy."
We'll be talking more about the health benefits of seafood in upcoming The Updates.
Seafood Directions happens every other year and is about twice the size of the New Zealand Conference. There's an energetic vibe and the tone is generally positive, but with a clear-eyed view of what the problems are.
One of the big ones the Aussie industry faces is space. Like in Aotearoa, the industry is just one user of the marine space, in the mix with renewables, tourism and offshore engineering. There were several sessions focused on this, including a quickfire session with multiple presenters all concerned about what the future holds. And for a worst-case scenario, the Conference heard from a Canadian salmon farming expert about how open cage farming has been banned in British Columbia, with phase-out timelines for transfer out of the marine environment she says are impossible to meet.
Also up for discussion was the conflict with the recreational sector. On one panel, the rec representative was banging the drum for more cost recovery from the commercial sector. You could feel the tension in the room.
It was instructive to hear that things aren't better in Australia overall with regard to how marine space users work together. Perhaps there's an opportunity for us to compare notes with our Aussie counterparts to figure out a better way.
No matter what the conflicts or concerns over ocean space may be, the big issue in Australia, as in New Zealand and frankly everywhere, is climate change. No one is wasting their time with conversations about "if" when it comes to climate impacts. The talk is about "when" we will see the next wave of impacts and what the heck we can do about it in a rapidly warming world.
Other big themes were safety and that includes mental wellbeing. Like New Zealand, Australians are trying to provide support for their fishers under pressure. We have FirstMate and programmes like EAP. They have Stay Afloat. In both places, we acknowledge that seafood can be a tough business and our people benefit from support and from understanding that asking for help is a good thing. "Self care is not selfish," as one of the visitors to the Stay Afloat booth said.
There were many, many other fascinating presentations, including one from Seafood New Zealand's own Rosa Edwards on supporting the recovery of commercial inshore fishers following a major weather event. There was also a lot of talk about quota, "property-like rights" and the need for certainty to help us secure investment in tough times. The Update will bring you more details about other key topics in future weeks.
One other one to mention now though, and perhaps one reason for the positivity - the use of data and AI to quite literally transform our business. There were so many speakers who are putting a lot of hope in the potential of data and AI to make our fisheries more sustainable and more efficient. Reducing the cost of delivering better science seems like a huge no-brainer.
At the end of the day though, we do this for the people who eat our seafood, so finally, back to Grant for some insight on what makes the seafood industry in other countries really successful. He works closely with Norway and he says their secret sauce is: "They move as one." Unity and a focus on the consumer are key.
