St Andrews is to host the largest international seafood summit of its kind - in just over 500 days – in early October 2024.
The Responsible Seafood Summit has never been held in Scotland before. More than 400 delegates are expected to descend on the prestigious five-star Fairmont Hotel, perched on a clifftop outside the town with a panoramic view of Scotland’s North Sea waters and the town below.
The summit will be co-hosted by trade marketing body Seafood Scotland and summit organiser Global Seafood Alliance. The multi-day event will include a conference with international speakers focusing on production, sustainability, innovation and market trends, as well as the opportunity for delegates to go on ‘learning journeys’ to meet the people and the products that are the hallmark of the seafood industry.
St Andrews was revealed as the location for the Summit during Seafood Expo Global in Barcelona, the biggest trade event in the world.
Cabinet Secretary for Rural Affairs, Land Reform and Islands Mairi Gougeon said: “The Responsible Seafood Summit is the largest international seafood business conference of its kind, and I am proud that Scotland will be hosting attendees from across the sector in St Andrews next year. The summit provides a platform for the world’s seafood thought leaders to share knowledge and ideas and to participate in developing a healthy, responsible, global seafood community.
“The Scottish Government published our Strategy for Seafood in October as a key component of the Blue Economy Vision, which sets an ambition for Scotland to be a global leader in providing healthy, high quality and sustainably produced and harvested ‘blue foods’ for consumption at home and abroad.
“I want to thank Seafood Scotland for their hard work with the Global Seafood Alliance on this, which will be fantastic celebration of our premium seafood on a global stage.”
Donna Fordyce, Chief Executive of Seafood Scotland, explained that St Andrews was chosen because of its unrivalled facilities for visitors, and in recognition of its fishing communities around its beautiful coastline.
She added: “Scotland is one of the world’s most trusted seafood producing countries thanks to our investment in quality, innovation and sustainability. We produce over 60 species of seafood and export to over 120 countries globally. Our industry spans world-class fish-markets and expert processors to stunning sea loch farms and hand dived shellfish. We will be ensuring our guests have an opportunity to experience the unrivalled seafood, latest innovations and sustainable best practice we can offer from Scotland.”
Wally Stevens, interim CEO of the Global Seafood Alliance said: Scottish seafood is highly prized in many key markets around the world and, having visited Scotland earlier this year, we already know that St Andrews is a prime location for the 2024 summit. Having spent the first two years post-pandemic in North America, we’re thrilled to be returning to Europe for our annual headline event and we’re expecting delegates from every corner of the globe to be in St Andrews, particularly now that Asia has fully opened up.”
