Aquaculture Europe 2016, held in Edinburgh during the 40th anniversary of the European Aquaculture Society, was the most successful Aquaculture Europe event to date, with a total of 1,700 participants from 65 countries. This year\'s conference, held at the Edinburgh International Conference Center, surpassed previous AE event participation in 2014 San Sebastian (1,450), 2015 Rotterdam (1,087) and 2011 Rhodes (1,029).
The event was opened with welcome addresses from EAS President 2014-2016 Sachi Kaushik, Sigi Gruber, Head of the Marine Resources Unit in the Directorate General for Research and Innovation of the European Commission and the Scottish Government Cabinet Secretary for Rural Economy and Connectivity, Fergus Ewing.
The theme of the event was “Food for Thought” and this was addressed by three plenary sessions that paved the way for the 32 parallel sessions of oral and poster presentations derived from a record submission of 714 abstracts. The AE2016 program co-chairs Alicia Estevez (IRTA, Spain) and Andrew Davie (Stirling, UK) orchestrated the session chairs that often had difficult choices in the selection of abstracts for their sessions.
The first day kicked off with Scottish pupils’ perspectives on aquaculture, with a showcase plenary organised as part of the Seafood in Schools initiative. The Seafood in Schools project has worked with pupils from Glen Urquhart and Balfron High Schools to help them gain in-depth knowledge about the Scottish aquaculture industry. Their findings were presented by pupils to “Showcase Scottish Aquaculture” to AE2016 delegates and to answer questions from the comperes Nicki Holmyard and John Joyce. In addition to these visual presentations, pupils from each school delighted the audience with their mastery of cookery skills, preparing and cooking a recipe dish of their own devising using Scottish aquaculture species. The seafood dishes were judged by an international panel and supervised by Chef Alan Frost. The winning pupils – from Glen Urquhart High School were crowned “Young Scottish aquaculture chefs of the year”.
The plenary session on day two was a retailer perspective on the future of fish by Ally Dingwall - Aquaculture and Fisheries Manager at Sainsbury’s Supermarkets Ltd – who provided an excellent insight into Sainsbury’s current position in relation to farmed fish sales and challenges and opportunities in delivering sustainable growth in consumption both in terms of production and the consumer to fill the gap between FAO predictions on consumption needs and current supply.
The final plenary was from Anne McColl, Board Chair of the Scottish Salmon Producers Organisation. Anne highlighted Scottish salmon farming by addressing key issues that enshrine its success – notably innovation in the evolution of the sector, using research to increase aquaculture production, exporting expertise and knowledge transfer and the future of salmon farming in Scotland.
More than 60 Industry Forums and other meetings were organised during AE2016 and included workshops, discussion forums and panels. The AE2016 trade event was also well attended, with a record 92 booths for exhibitors showing their latest products and services.
