The Marine Stewardship Council (MSC) has announced the final list of speakers for this year’s Seafood Futures Forum, taking place at Seafood Expo Global in Brussels and broadcast live online on Wednesday 8 May. The forum will provide a platform to explore ways the seafood industry and ocean conservation community can better collaborate to overcome barriers and deliver meaningful change, beyond certification, on a global scale.
Dr Stephen Hall, a consultant in organisational change and former Director General of WorldFish, will present the collective perspectives of more than 225 participants in the SDG Leadership Forum for Goal 14: Life Below Water, hosted in November 2018 by GlobeScan, Nomad Foods and the MSC. A new report compiled from this event, to be published on 8 May, identifies potential actions to deliver the ambitious 2020 targets and 2030 deadlines set out in the United Nation’s Sustainable Development Goal 14 (SDG14). The solutions identified span civil society, government, multilateral organisations and the private sector.
These actions will be discussed in detail by panellists from Thai Union, Coop Swiss, the Sustainable Fisheries Partnership, Pukyong National University, the Aquaculture Stewardship Council and the MSC. The panellists have been chosen to bring diverse perspectives and on-the-ground experience in overcoming barriers to sustainable fishing.
The MSC will provide an update on its efforts, together with its partners, to encourage sustainable fishing while meeting global seafood demand. The MSC will also outline new tools and initiatives being developed to increase the accessibility of the MSC program, particularly to small scale and developing world fisheries which have a long journey to sustainability but supply most of the world’s seafood.
Chief Program Officer at the MSC, Nicholas Guichoux said: “Overfishing could be solved. We understand the issues and we have proven tools to overcome them. But time is running out. We need to galvanise action to preserve our precious oceans. That’s why the MSC will use this year’s Seafood Futures Forum to explore the role of collaboration in turning the tide on overfishing, and to share our contributions to addressing this global challenge. Anyone with an interest in safeguarding seafood supplies and oceans for the future is encouraged to attend either in person or online.”
The free event will take place at 09:00 CET on Wednesday 8 May. Participants need to register to join online or in person. Those who register will also receive a recording of the event.
Seafood Futures Forum speakers
- Rupert Howes, Chief Executive Officer, MSC
- Nicolas Guichoux, Chief Program Officer, MSC
- Dr Stephen Hall, Principal, Avalerion Capital
- Francisco Leotte, Group Sustainability Manager, Thai Union
- Pedro Ferreiro Velasco, Buyer Engagement Deputy Director, Sustainable Fisheries Partnership (SFP)
- Professor Dohoon Kim, professor of fisheries science at Pukyong National University in Busan, Korea
- Gerhard Zurlutter, Head of Projects and Overseas Buying Frozen Products, Coop Cooperative, Switzerland
- Barbara Janker, Commercial Marketing Manager, Germany, Switzerland, Austria and Scandinavia, ASC
- Yemi Oloruntuyi, Head of Global Accessibility, MSC