GAA Partners with North Atlantic Seafood Forum

The Global Aquaculture Alliance (GAA) is delighted to announce a new partnership with the North Atlantic Seafood Forum (NASF), starting with the 2019 event, which is the 14th annual.

NASF will be held at the Radisson Blu Royal Hotel in Bergen, Norway, from March 5 to 7. The forum has developed into one of the world’s largest seafood business conferences, drawing some 900attendees and 120 speakers in 2018. Year-round events are also held to support different sectors of the industry.

As part of the agreement, GAA, as a leading voice for aquaculture, will serve on the planning committee, contributing to the direction of the NASF sustainability session, which it will co-sponsor with the Marine Stewardship Council. The forum’s program is divided into 12 sessions, with sustainability being one of the sessions taking place on Thursday, March 7.

“Global aquaculture is developing at a fast and exciting pace,” said GAA Development Director Iain Shone. “GAA’s role is to support industry develop in a responsible fashion, tackle and solve issues, and inform the marketplace to encourage consumption. With the formation of GSA, the organization has a unique bridge across the world of farmed and wild seafood. We look forward to supporting the forum and the key sectors active within it.

“As the leading global aquaculture organization, we look forward to contributing to the forum at its flagship sustainability session,” added Shone. “We strive to add value to the global aquaculture industry by helping provide solutions for the industry in producing responsible and nutritious farmed seafood. We believe that our work with the RFS and the launch of GSA will be warmly welcomed by NASF delegates when the forum convenes in March.”

In addition to acting as a voice for responsible aquaculture through its pre-competitive activities and its Best Aquaculture Practices (BAP) third-party certification program, GAA is expanding through the formation of GSA, a new, independent, not-for-profit organization established to meet marketplace and public expectations for assurances across the board in aquaculture and fisheries. GSA has already begun to address a major gap in fisheries certification by signing a memorandum of understanding with Seafish (United Kingdom’s Sea Fish Industry Authority) to manage its Responsible Fisheries Scheme (RFS), taking a lead role with developing international fishing vessel standards.

Jorgen J. Lund, managing director for NASF, welcomes GAA’s formal entry into the NASF arena next year. Said Lund, “GAA has been attending a number of NASF conference since 2013 with great speakers and themes. GAA has also been active in our sustainably seminar helping to set the stage and focus. We are delighted to have GAA attending as a NASF partner, contributing their deep industry insights and know how to our influential world meeting place for top aquaculture executives.”

About GAA
The Global Aquaculture Alliance is an international, nonprofit trade association dedicated to advancing environmentally and socially responsible aquaculture. Through the development of its Best Aquaculture Practices certification standards, GAA has become the leading standards-setting organization for aquaculture seafood.