Seafood Summit 2006

Sustainability and the Future of Seafood

Seattle, Washington
January 29 - February 1, 2006

Organized by Seafood Choices Alliance, Seafood Summit is the only venue to connect large and small companies from a diverse array of industries with leaders from the conservation community to bridge the gap between the latest science and the reality of the seafood marketplace.

Concern for the ocean and an understanding of the relationship between human health and environmental health is increasingly making its way into corporate boardrooms and company policy. This January 29 through February 1, Seafood Choices Alliance’s Seafood Summit 2006 “Sustainability and the Future of Seafood” brought together global business and conservation leaders to discuss critical and timely issues as well as explore the opportunities for expanding the marketplace for ocean-friendly seafood.

Seafood Summit 2006 came at a crucial time, on the heels of many corporate announcements and press focused on seafood sustainability. In November 2005, retail giant Wal-Mart announced it would begin certifying all of its imported farm-raised shrimp to ensure it is grown in a way that minimizes negative environmental and socio-economic impacts. Two days prior to the 2006 Seafood Summit, the Marine Stewardship Council, World Wildlife Fund, and Wal-Mart announced Wal-Mart’s commitment to only selling fresh wild fish that bears the Marine Stewardship Council label. Other companies announcing similar actions with regard to seafood sustainability included McDonald’s, British retailer Tesco, Darden Restaurants, Xanterra Parks & Resorts, Marine Harvest (in partnership with Coastal Alliance for Aquaculture Reform), and food service company Bon Appetit Management Co.

Seafood Summit 2006 was a year of firsts. While it was the fifth such conference, it was the first time the conference was held on the U.S. West Coast. In addition, 2006 was the first year that Seafood Choices Alliance opened the Seafood Summit to the public. The Seafood Summit has evolved from a small, private meeting focused on gathering conservation organizations working on sustainable seafood initiatives to a fully-developed conference offering networking opportunities and strategic discussions among all entities involved in the movement towards sustainable seafood - scientists, policymakers, charitable foundations, conservation organizations, certification bodies, food wholesalers and retailers, chefs and restaurateurs, fishermen, and fish farmers.

The agenda for Seafood Summit 2006 included the following topics:

• Closed Tank Systems for Carnivorous Fish Farming
• Branding and Product Differentiation
• Selling Sustainable Seafood at a Global Scale - Corporate Retail
• Offshore Fish Farming
• Reaching Casual Dining Establishments and Caterers
• Mercury in Seafood
• The Future of Seafood Certification
• Sustainable Seafood Movement in Europe
• Small Scale Fisheries
• Food Service Challenges and Opportunities
• Preventing Illegally Caught Seafood in the Market
• Organic Labeling
• U.S. Fisheries Policy
• Fishermen-Chef Connections and Cooperatives
• The Role of Philanthropy
• Fish Feed - Sustainability and Health Concerns
• One Sustainable Food System
• Food Trends in 2006
• Media Training Workshop

Invited speakers included keynote speaker Andreas Merkl (Chairman of Sea Change Management, LLC and Executive Director of the Conservation and Community Investment Forum (CCIF)) and luncheon speaker William T. Hogarth, Ph.D (Assistant Administrator for Fisheries, U.S. National Marine Fisheries Service and Chairman, International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas (ICCAT)). Other speakers represented diverse expertise and geographical location, including: Kristine Kidd (food editor at Bon Appetit magazine), celebrity chef Greg Higgins (Higgins Restaurant in Portland, Ore.), Tim O’Shea (CEO of CleanFish), Dr. Cathy Roheim (professor of economics at the University of Rhode Island), Dierk Peters (international marketing manager for global consumer products company Unilever), and Harriet Hall (representing the toothfish fishery of South Georgia, a British territory in the South Atlantic ocean).