IFFO’s 57th Annual Conference came to a close last night with the announcement of the winners of the IFFO Awards. Aller Aqua (IFFO Non-Producer member) won a Leadership and Innovation Award for their expansion work in Africa, delivered by implementing a strong management structure and taking a responsible approach and focussed on CSR. IFFO Producer member American Seafoods Co. won a Leadership Award for their work in driving fisheries improvements in their industries, such as MSC certifications of the Bering Sea/Aleutian Islands and Pacific hake fisheries, and being the first US fishing company to complete a 4-pillar, Sedex Members Ethical Trade Audit (SMETA) with no corrective actions.
The awards were presented by the incoming IFFO President Michael Copeland who noted that “this year’s winners showed that taking brave steps in expanding to the new markets and improving sustainable practices can both strengthen your business and ensure the continued prosperous growth of our marine ingredients industry. I would like to congratulate both Aller Aqua and American Seafoods for their important work and the other finalists in these awards, who all put forward strong examples of both leadership and innovation.” The winners were selected by the IFFO Management Board and more information about the finalists can be found here.
This year’s conference was attended by 400 delegates from 37 countries and included 47 presentations from leading industry scientists, case studies on countries and specific industries and analyses of latest market trends.
Presentations included the USA’s National Fisheries Institute’s John Connelly giving a fascinating insight into the host country’s seafood market and warned the global industry to keep a close eye on US trade policies in this turbulent period. There was a strong focus on both nutrition and sustainability, with presentations on quality feed by Loch Duart’s Andy Bing, GOED’s Harry Rice on fish oil and cardiovascular science and GSI’s Avrim Lazar on their zero waste imperative. IFFO’s team gave insights into the EU’s approach to the reauthorization of ethoxyquin), the development of the Codex and China fish oil standards, and the work with the IMO on the amendment to the IMDG Code.
On concluding the conference, IFFO’s Director General Andrew Mallison said that “for three short days the IFFO conference is the heart of the marine ingredients industry and it gives us a unique chance to share, engage and plan together. We enjoyed another successful year as an industry, but with changes in supply, new areas of innovation and the constant requirement for growth, it is vital that we stay on our toes. Our ingredients remain the best for nutrition and we must continue to work together to ensure a sustainable future.”
