Ah, Brussels. A four-day blur of handshaking, card-exchanging, sore feet and long nights in smoky, low-ceilinged bars on Le Grand Place. Of course, all the exhaustion is worth it, or we wouldn't go.

Where else can you meet nearly all your buyers and suppliers, spy out your competitor's new products and check out the latest in money-saving processing equipment all in the span of a few days?

With a slump at the Boston show the past few years, Brussels may be the one remaining "must-go" seafood trade show.