Wednesday, May 20, 5.15 p.m. GMT
Get noticed -- be neon
Last to speak was James Fford, of the Worshipful Company of Fishmongers, providing an outside perspective if the shellfish industry.
“If you’re involved in an industry, you can become too involved, you can lose perspective,” he warned, claiming it was important to step back, notice the less obvious, and spot the trends.
Fford, an entrepreneur compared the fishing industry to his own shower manufacturing company, stating there were over 1,500 commercial fish (plus shellfish) compared to “six species of shower."
“If you’re in the fish industry you need to get heard. Get involved in more than one species," he said. “Carry some weight, have influence, get noticed – be neon”
Fford said he sees a highly evolved creditable future for the SAGB, as The Fishmonger’s company had similar challenges too.
“We looked at our own situation in the same way – in beginner’s mind terms.”
Fford also spoke about Fish on Friday, a collaborative project trying to spread the positive message about the many initiatives in the industry.
“Fishing has changed dramatically in the last 30 years, we want to be the independent voice for fish and coastal communities,” he said.
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Wednesday, May 20, 3.55 p.m. GMT
A retailer’s perspective
Huw Thomas, fisheries and aquaculture manager at UK retailer Morrisons, took the stage to share the retailer’s perspective of the shellfish market.
Thomas declared his job was to ensure our customers can by seafood from Morrisons with a clear conscience.
“It’s not always easy,” he said. “The big challenge is science, there is a deficiency of data.”
“Shopper surveys suggest people want to eat seafood but lack the confidence. Despite everyone knowing the benefits of eating it, the challenge is to get people buying seafood.”
Another problem retailers faced was price perception, and customers often don’t know how much they need to buy with shellfish.
In terms of opportunities, Thomas claimed retailers would look at collaborative working to address sustainability.
“We’re often too competitive with other retailers,” he said.
As well, he said retailers would look at the market for non-human consumption.
When questioned about Morrison’s seafood sourcing policy and whether the preference was for UK seafood or was the company specifically focused on the sustainability side, Thomas said that while Morrison’s supported the global trade, it would always look favorably at UK supply chains.
“We have 68 species, just shy of 30 are UK-based,” he said.
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Wednesday, May 20, 12.55 p.m. GMT
Understanding the shellfish requirement of birds
Bournemouth University’s Professor Richard Stillman spoke next, delivering a talk about trying to understand how change affects bird species, specifically how the amount of shellfish food affects the birds ability to survive through winter.
The industry needed to think about the ecological requirement of how much food is needed in order for birds to survive in the environment.
“We’re trying to develop rules of thumb to advise managements of fisheries,” Stillman said, adding that there were plans to create a website to allow any stakeholder to calculate food requirements of the birds to inform shellfish management.
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Wednesday, May 20, 12.10 p.m. GMT
Call for overseas cooperation
Cora Seip of H&S Consultancy took to the stage to deliver a talk from the perspective of German and Dutch fisheries, discussing in particular Natura 2000, a network of nature protection areas in the European Union, which Seip claimed had parallels to the MSC.
Dutch fishermen can apply for permission to fish in Natura 2000 areas, but due to strong NGO influence there are cases where people have ordered licenses in 2013 and still have yet to receive them in 2015.
“All countries experience the same problems, and they should look for possibilities to cooperate,” Seip said. “We should make use of each other’s research and knowledge. Put reports and existing studies on critical issues on a website, make research available.”
Seip claimed she still hadn’t found the answer to what would be the best way to share information, but believed a possible answer could be establishing a Google Group entitled Shellfish industry EU.
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Wednesday, May 20, 11.05 a.m. GMT
Shellfish's biggest challenges? There are plenty
The second day of the Shellfish Association of Britain’s annual conference was opened by Havsea Consultancy’s John Goodlad, who spoke about the challenges and opportunities the UK shellfish will face in the future.
Goodlad highlighted the importance of the shellfish industry to UK fisheries, pointing out 25 percent of total UK catch consists of shellfish, valued at 37 percent of the UK fishing industry’s total value, comprised mainly of scallops, nephrops and crab.
The importance of the shellfish industry lies in how widespread it was across the country, he said – while the pelagic and whitefish sectors have become more concentrated, the shellfish industry is still found in many fishing villages in the United Kingdom.
In addition, the shellfish is comparatively easier for young enterprising fishermen to get into compared to the pelagic and whitefish sectors, he said.
For the challenges the industry would face in the future, Goodlad warned of over regulation.
“There appears to be a insatiable desire from governments for regulation. Governments don’t always know best,” he said, citing the landings obligation as the worst example. “That was a case of politicians caving in to the campaign of a celebrity chef.”
Goodlad believes the best kind of regulations were locally devised and locally managed, stating the people fishing the stocks were the best people to take care of them.
“If shellfish fisheries are not managed locally, then the only alternative is management by the dead hand of government,” he warned.
The second challenge for the industry was the question of environmental movement and NGOs, Goodlad said, adding it was important for shellfish industry to be seen as center stage any discussions as they were “the key stake holder” in all of them.
He believes certification is a helpful tool which the industry could make use of, but stated whether or not accreditations would eventually lead to a better price for products remained to be seen.
Another challenge for the shellfish industry was conflict between fishing and farming.
“Scallop farming may become a viable and profitable business. Competition between farmers and fishermen for sea bed is inevitable,” he said.
However, with good special planning from local management, Goodlad was confident it would not be a problem.
“I’d like to think the shellfish industry would not waste time and effort fighting each other,” he said.
Marketing and sales are another challenge, with certification, quality assurance and marketing helping the industry guarantee the best prices.
In closing, Goodlad said, it is perhaps time to look at whether the industry needed some form of national lobby – “a national shellfish alliance”, in order to be the single body that can communicate with the government, adding that he was currently working with the shellfish association to look at the feasibility of establishing such an organization.
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Tuesday, May 19, 5.55 p.m. GMT
Sustainability challenges in the shellfish sector
The last to speak on day one of the event was Ian Boyd, chief scientific adviser to Defra, who aimed to convey to the audience some of the thinking that goes on at Defra.
“The science that supports an industry like the shellfish industry is absolutely essential to the future of the industry,” he said.
“Yes, the government is here to help, but the government can only do so much,” he said, adding he believed the fishing industry in general was already marching down the road to looking after itself.
Boyd claimed the days of the government having large pots of money to put into research were gone, but stated the government still had an important role, in making policies that support the industry intelligently.
With regards to the shellfish industry, Boyd said the industry has high market value, and even if stocks are limited, that value can be maximized.
He also stated that a positive attribute the industry had was that with shellfish stocks the United Kingdom had control of them, not having to deal with catch quotas.
“The positive side of that is that we’re in control, but that in itself is a challenge, it’s not in our interest to exploit our stocks. We have to come up with good management methods,” Boyd said.
The shellfish industry makes up just over a third of the overall UK fishing industry, with production hardly changing in the last 10 years. Shellfish industries have a relatively low environmental impact.
Boyd suggested perhaps this was evidence they were doing a good job managing the industry.
Outlining Defra’s aims for the UK shellfish industry, Boyd stated it wanted a thriving shellfish sector, big enough to support UK economy.
“The government wants to see you earning sufficient profits so the industry can contribute to the economy,” he said.
“We want healthy highly productive stocks and we want a low environmental foot print. I think the shellfish industry has a very good track record,” he added.
For the future, Boyd said the industry could expect the following challenges.
Boy stated Defra must use science to build stock assessment models, with the aim of being able to predict stock dynamics.
“The cost of over exploitation is not just environmental, it’s financial as well,” he said.
“We need to aim for somewhere below maximum sustainable yield, because I think that’s what will give maximum economic yield.”
He also stated in order to increase the quality of data Defra had to collect better data, by engaging more with the industry.
“People out there farming shellfish can supply us with high quality data – though this must be quality controlled.”
He also stressed the importance of safeguarding shellfish health, with research on new diseases and their impact on shellfish health.
“This is a joint effort between the government, NGOs, the industry and European initiatives.”
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Tuesday, May 19, 4.30 p.m. GMT
White coats and fishing boats
Mike Cohen of the Holderness Fishing Industry Group took on the difficult subject about the relationship between scientists and fishermen.
“It hasn’t always been easy. Fishermen can often be hostile towards scientists, and vice versa,” he said.
“If we want data in order to better understand our fishery, we need very good science.”
With the help of the European fisheries program, the Holderness Fishing Industry Group started to put together a research team specifically to carry out the practical fisheries research needed for the industry, conducting a variety of studies, not just on its own, but with universities as well.
“The fishing industry needs to be a leading partner in these sorts of relationships, we want research done by us, not to us by outsiders, he said.”
Cohen stated the industry needed to lead the way in what is good science and bad science and move away from the idea of science belonging to another group.
“The fishing industry needs to take ownership of fisheries science process.”
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Tuesday, May 19, 3.10 p.m. GMT
Is inshore fisheries management too green?
Eddy Derriman, formally of the Inshore Fisheries & Conservation Authority (IFCA), recounted the history of inshore fisheries management in the United Kingdom, and addressed some concerns people may have had regarding IFCA.
“2IFCA is effectively being pulled in three ways by green groups, fishermen and the government, so occasionally it can come across that no one is getting their way,” he said.
Derriman believes some fishermen think IFCA is too focused on environmental efforts, but reminded the room conservation was a central part of IFCA.
However, he was keen to emphasize that conservation would be done in a pragmatic manner which will not affect commercial activities any more than is absolutely necessary.
He also issued a request to green groups who believe IFCA to not be doing enough for the environment.
“IFCA has a long history of protecting the marine environment, if you have a concern, pick the phone up and call someone at IFCA.”
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Tuesday, May 19, 2.30 p.m. GMT
Tales from the riverbank
Barry Sessions, owner of southwest based farm River Teign Shellfish, took to the stage to deliver a talk from the perspective of oyster farms.
“The two biggest snags in the industry are overregulation and water quality,” he said, mentioning although he often had to endure lectures from environmental foundation representatives, shellfish farms “know what to do, and its in our own interests to do it well.”
Sessions pointed out the southwest fisheries can be traced back 1,000 years, stating “if we were damaging our industry, do you think it would have lasted this long?”
He also raised a point about “invasive” species, asking at what point do they cease to be considered non-native, pointing out pacific oysters as an example.
Sessions claimed the riverbank felt they were easy targets because they are “controllable.”
“From that point of view we’re not a very satisfied customer,” he joked, adding that he did not believe his story to be unique.
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Tuesday, May 19, 12.30 p.m. GMT
The European spiny lobster -- a viable species?
David Fletcher of RAS Aquaculture research discussed the commercial viability of the European spiny lobster.
RAS’s sister company, Seiont Research has been undergoing a project designed to improve the culture needs of the spiny lobster, in particular broodstock management and the identification of phyllosoma feeding behavior.
Funded by European fisheries fund and Welsh government, the project is described as a serious challenge.
Fletcher believes the potential for spiny lobster is huge, claiming it ticked all the boxes for farming and land-based farms in the United Kingdom.
Spiny lobsters are in high demand globally, with Japan in particular liking the European lobster thanks to the nice red color, he said.
“We’ve already domesticated the brood stock, and it lends itself well to developing your own breeding programs,” Fletcher said.
“The larval cycle for spiny lobster can be reduced to two and a half months in captivity, and it is estimated that juveniles could be produced in 85 days. With the right nutrition that 85 days could be further reduced.”
Fetcher stated juvenile production was the biggest obstacle, but claimed with a bit of effort the United Kingdom could commercialize the European spiny lobster, but added it may “take a few more grants.”
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Tuesday, May 19, 11.30 a.m. GMT
Shellfish disease: Prevention not curing
Representatives from across the United Kingdom’s shellfish industry are gathering at the Fishmonger’s Hall in London Tuesday to speak at the Shellfish Association of Great Britain’s 46th annual conference.
Amongst the featured speakers was Adrian Macleod, representing the Scottish Association for Marine Science (SAMS). He discussed the importance of bio-security planning in the aquaculture industry, in particular researching the impact of non-native species to the UK shellfish industry.
Macleod described bio-security planning as a way of working that minimizes risk of contamination, taking action and then documenting the actions taken.
“We need to adjust our practices to reduce risk,” Macleod said. “Once introduced, non-native species are hard to get rid of. At best we can record where non-native species are showing up.”
Macleod believes it is a case of prevention rather than curing.
He praised the Aquaculture Stewardship Council (ASC), and other accreditation schemes, for their roles in rewarding farmers for growing their product in a sustainable way, and also stated the United Kingdom’s laws as an effective driver for bio-security.
When producing a bio-security plan, Macleod stated there were four steps:
- Describe activity
- Identify hazards and all activities in operation that could potentially spread pathogens
- Risk asses those activities
- Try and mitigate impact with control methods, such as clear instructions for your workers.
When questioned on how SAMS would respond to non-native species which had been proven beneficial to fisheries, Macleod responded that currently legislation looks at all non-native species as being equally invasive.
“However, it is clear we should be concerned at some species and not others. With a bio-security plan you can produce that information and help the industry understand what species are a concern.”
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