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VeriFish at AQUA2024: Driving Sustainable Seafood Practices for the Future


From August 26-30, 2024, the AQUA2024 Conference in Copenhagen, Denmark brought together key players in aquaculture, fisheries, and marine conservation. VeriFish took part in this significant gathering, engaging with a wide range of stakeholders to discuss and shape the future of sustainable seafood. Through a critical survey, we gained new insights into how different actors in the aquaculture sector prioritize sustainability.

At AQUA2024, the VeriFish team had the opportunity to present our project and its goals of promoting verifiable sustainability indicators for seafood. The event provided a platform to engage with aquaculture producers, developers, research institutions, universities, consumers, seafood retailers, policy stakeholders, funding agencies, and Standard Good Practices Organizations (SGPO). Our goal was to introduce the project’s framework and foster discussions on the future of sustainable seafood production and consumption.

As part of our presence at the event, we expanded on a previous online poll by posing a critical question to stakeholders: “Which aspect of seafood sustainability is most important to you?” Participants were asked to choose from four key categories: environment, management, socio-economic factors, or nutrition and health.

The results of the survey highlighted that environmental sustainability was the leading concern, with 40% of respondents selecting it as the most important aspect. This was followed by nutrition and health, chosen by 28.6% of respondents, and socio-economic factors, which garnered 25.7%. Management lagged behind at only 5.7%. While the sample size of 140 participants may not capture the full complexity of the sector, it offers a snapshot of current priorities in the aquaculture community.

Breaking down the data further, aquaculture producers and developers ranked the environment as their top concern, with nutrition and health following closely behind. Research institutions and consumers also prioritized environmental sustainability, but socio-economic factors were a significant secondary concern. Similarly, policy stakeholders, funding agencies, and SGPOs saw environmental sustainability as the most critical issue, with socio-economic factors taking second place. However, university representatives and seafood retailers reversed the trend, placing socio-economic factors as their primary concern. Universities ranked the environment as second most important, while seafood retailers emphasized the importance of nutrition and health.

These findings underscore a strong focus on environmental sustainability within the aquaculture sector, but they also reveal the importance of addressing socio-economic and nutritional factors. As the VeriFish project continues to develop its framework for verifiable sustainability indicators, these insights will be instrumental in shaping our approach to sustainable seafood production and consumption

The feedback gathered at AQUA2024 reinforces the need for a comprehensive and balanced understanding of sustainability in the seafood industry. By addressing environmental, social, and health-related concerns, VeriFish aims to support informed decisions across the value chain. The discussions and learnings from AQUA2024 mark an important step in our journey to drive positive change in the seafood sector, ensuring that sustainability remains at the core of global aquaculture practices.

Stay tuned for more updates as VeriFish continues to engage with the industry and stakeholders to push the boundaries of sustainable seafood practices.

 

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David Bassett

Employed by EATiP since 2017, David is responsible for the day-to-day management and direction of this European wide multi-actor ETP. 

Working in the aquaculture industry since 2005, including a decade as the executive of a UK producer association, he has been active in numerous projects from the sixth Framework Programme. Among other roles, David has served as a director of the Scottish Aquaculture Research Forum and served on the Technical Advisory Group of the Aquaculture Stewardship Council (ASC TAG) alongside being invited as a guest lecturer at the Institute of Aquaculture, University of Stirling (UK).  

In addition to working on multiple Horizon Europe projects David is one of the Technical Experts assisting with the implementation of the EU Aquaculture Assistance Mechanism in addition to chairing the research focus group of the Aquaculture Advisory Council (AAC) and sitting on the Standing Committee on Agricultural Research – Fish Committee (SCAR-Fish). 

For further information on EATiP please see www.eatip.eu 

Paul Bulcock

Paul Bulcock is responsible for developing and maintaining aquaculture information in SFP’s systems (e.g., FishSource, AIP Directory, Metrics). He also supports development and implementation of aquaculture strategy through research and analysis.

Paul has extensive program support and aquaculture research experience (particularly in Southeast Asia), having worked for the Network of Aquaculture Centers in Asia-Pacific (NACA) and DFID’s Aquaculture and Fish Genetics Research Programme (AFGRP) at the Institute of Aquaculture, in Stirling, UK. He has an MSc in aquaculture from the University of Stirling and a BSc in marine and fisheries zoology from the University of Aberdeen.

Paul is based in the UK, in Glasgow, Scotland.

Fabio Grati

A fishery biologist presently employed at the National Research Council, Institute for Marine Biological Resources and Biotechnology (Ancona, Italy), he brings to the table more than thirty years of expertise in marine environmental conservation and sustainable resource management. Over the course of his career, he has overseen and participated in numerous international projects focused on understanding and mitigating anthropic impacts on marine ecosystems. Since 2019, he holds a membership in the Scientific, Technical and Economic Committee for Fisheries (STECF) under the European Commission. Within this role, he has chaired two STECF Expert Working Groups (EWG 22-12 and EWG 23-18), where he led efforts to establish scientifically robust yet accessible criteria and indicators for assessing the sustainability of fisheries products.

Andrea Fabris

Andrea Fabris born 11.08.1968, Italian, has a Veterinary Medicine full graduation achieved at the University of Parma. He has also a Specialization in “Farming, Hygiene, Pathology of Aquatic Species and Control of Derivative Products ” achieved at Udine University and a Specialization in “Animal Feeding” obtained at Bologna University.

Actually (from May 2016) he is Director of Associazione Piscicoltori Italiani (API – Italian Fish Farmers Association). At National level behalf of API he is member of some working groups at the General Direction for Fisheries and Aquaculture of Italian Ministry of Agriculture and Italian Ministry of Health regarding aquaculture EU rules and their implementation at national and regional level, and member of Exotic Species Aquaculture Committee – Italian Ministry of Agriculture. Lecturer on in training /courses organized by Ministry of Health, Universities and Local Veterinary Authorities; member of Board of Directors of SIPI (Italian Society of Fish Pathology).

He is also involved at international level with the Federation of European Aquaculture Producers (FEAP) as Chairman of FEAP Fish Health and Welfare Commission. Andrea is part of the FVE (Federation of Veterinarians Europe) Aquaculture Working Group, and of FishMedPlus Coalition, and from the beginning member of Aquaculture Advisory Council (AAC) where is actually Chair of WG1 – Finfish.

He published as an author or co-author about 30 articles on international and national scientific journals concerning Fish pathology and Aquaculture and more than 60 issues on divulgative (fishermen and aquaculture producers associations) publications

Anne Marie Cooper

Anne shapes global sustainable fisheries and aquaculture policies through her work at the science-policy interface. Driven by a commitment to improving human lives and aquatic ecosystems, she serves as the Professional Officer for Fisheries and Aquaculture Advice at the International Council for the Exploration of the Sea (ICES) in Copenhagen, Denmark. Anne leads ICES’ efforts in developing and applying methods to provide scientific advice on data-limited fish and shellfish stocks in the Northeast Atlantic, covering over 60% of ICES stocks. She also heads the development of ICES’
advisory framework for sustainable aquaculture. Before joining ICES, Anne advised on national fisheries, aquaculture, climate, and marine science policy in the US Senate, House of Representatives, and NOAA. She holds a Ph.D. in Conservation Biology and Development Studies and Social Change Theory and an M.Sc. in Fisheries Science from the University of Minnesota.

Pedro Reis Santos

Pedro Reis Santos is Secretary General of the Market Advisory Council (MAC), a stakeholder-led advisory body to the European Commission and to the Member States on matters relevant for the EU market of fishery and aquaculture products, as foreseen by the Common Fisheries Policy Regulation.

Before his appointment, in July 2019, as Secretary General, Mr Reis Santos worked as a consultant for a Brussels-based business intelligence service monitoring EU developments on fisheries, agriculture, food, animal welfare, alcohol and tobacco policy. Prior to that, he was a trainee at the Fisheries Unit of the Council of the European Union and a trainee at the Control Unit of the Portuguese Fisheries Authority.

Mr Reis Santos holds a Bachelor’s degree in Law and a Master’s degree in International Law and International Relations from the University of Lisbon with a thesis titled “Marine Protected Areas beyond National Jurisdiction”. Besides his first language, Portuguese, he speaks English and Spanish

Irene Kranendonk

Irene Kranendonk is the Impact Manager at Fish Tales and a board member of the Fish Tales Foundation. Her work focuses on developing and guiding Fish Tales’ sourcing criteria including management of the environmental and social certification schemes. With the Fish Tales Foundation and local partner organizations, she drives social and environmental improvements in small scale fisheries. Irene holds a master’s degree from Wageningen University in Aquaculture and Marine Resource Management and is specialized in the field of fisheries ecology. In a previous role, Irene was sustainable seafood assessor for the Dutch seafood rating scheme the VISwijzer.