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Wynne Griffiths, chairman of the Humber Seafood Institute and former CEO of Young's Seafood, opened the first ever Humber Seafood Summit. The Humber region is responsible for processing 70 percent of the seafood sold in the U.K. and is a major employer in the area, so such conferences to allow the industry to get together and cooperate on development are vital, he said. In his presentation entitled Dale Rodwell, of the U.K. National Federation of Fishermen¿s Organizations (NFFO), said his organization wants to see the Common Fisheries Policy (CFP) reform, due in 2012, to give more management power into the hands of the industry and other stakeholders to formulate long-term management plans. The conference included some lively debate. Rachel Mutter, <b>IntraFish Media</b> aquaculture publicvaitons editor, takes a question from Steve Norton, Chief Executive, of the Grimsby Fish Merchants' Association. From left: Mark Escolme of Findus Group; Chris Leftwich, chief inspector at London's fishmongers' company; Terje Martinussen of the Norwegian Seafood Export Council (NSEC); and Martin Jaffa, principal of Callander McDowell, take questions from the audience in one of the panel discussions. Will Rash, category director for shellfish with the Findus Group, said 2 percent of the world's population is dependent on aquaculture. Salmon consumption in the United Kingdom is down 9 percent in 2010, partly because of the high salmon prices, said Terje Martinussen, managing director of the Norwegian Seafood Export Council (NSEC). Melanie Siggs, vice president for sustainable markets with SeaWeb, parent company of the Seafood Choices Alliance, said more interaction between certification bodies on standards development would be a positive step. Mark Escolme, managing director of Young's Seafood and Findus U.K., called for innovation from frozen fish companies to capitalize on the growth potential in the sector. Anita Barker, managing director of Icelandic Group subsidiary Coldwater Seafood, gave insight into the company's plans to expand into new markets for seafood ready meals in the future. Part of Mark Escolme's presentation drew attention to the amount of fish consumers in the United Kingdom freeze, having bought if fresh. Andrew Jackson, technical director for the International Fishmeal and Fish oil Organization (IFFO), gave a talk entitled Feeding fish to fish ¿ is this a responsible practice?. He drew attention to the drops in the use of fishmeal in aquaculture, but said that replacing fish oil is more of an issue.

Publisher: IntraFish