YoungFish, a Norwegian networking organization for under-37-year-old seafood employees, has established a North American arm with the aim of being the biggest seafood network in the region.
"North America is one of the fastest growing seafood regions," said YoungFish's North America lead Teodor Strand-Johansen and vice president of North American Marketing for Hofseth BioCare.
"This is mainly due to consumers increased awareness and knowledge of the health benefits of seafood. Collaborating between the North American nations, as well as across the Atlantic with Norway, sharing knowledge and experience with each other, is in our highest priority to make the organization as valuable as possible for our members."
YoungFish is a nonprofit organization without any employees. All events and activities are based on volunteer work of its members alongside their full time jobs.
"We have had several international request these past few years, but Teodor is the first outside of Norway who wanted to start up a 'local branch'," said Carl Johan Sandberg, leader of the board, one of YoungFish's founding members and group quality manager for Ocean Quality.
"How this will look in the future we don’t know, as the potential in the USA is enormous. Most important for us is to support Teodor in the establishing, and to maintain the organization as one network with the same mission, vision and values - regardless of geography."
YoungFish was established in Norway in 2014.
"The vision from day one has been to gather young people who are interested and passionate about the seafood industry," said Sandberg.