The European research project PrimeFish delivers its first results on seafood consumption patterns
Vigo, 10th April- From the 4th to the 6th of April the European project PrimeFish, funded by the Horizon 2020 programme of the European Commission has presented its first results on the consumption of seafood in Europe. On the 4th and 5th of April, scientists from 11 different countries (Canada, Denmark, Faroe Islands, France, Germany, Iceland, Italy, Norway, Spain, United Kingdom and Vietnam) discussed their latest work on data management, economic performance of fisheries and aquaculture, value chain analysis, market trends, prediction models, support to decision-making, shared value with stakeholders and management of the project. PrimeFish is developing a web-based tool to strengthen the competitiveness of the European fisheries and aquaculture sector through several ways, being some of them the analysis of the innovation in the seafood market, the analysis of the consumption and the barriers and drivers that lead consumers to the fish counters. The project begun in 2015 and will finish in 2019. Guðmundur Stefánsson, project coordinator, outlined the aim of the meeting: “The focus is on the commercial aspect of the project together with the possible improvements and the general good for society”. The 16 research centers, universities and SMEs working together in PrimeFish hold an annual meeting to help the researchers to coordinate their work and foresee the next steps to take. On the 6th April and under the motto of “Science-based Competitiveness and Policy Making for the European Seafood Sector”, PrimeFish researchers introduced the first results of the projectin front of 60 attendants, among them representatives of the Directorate General for Maritime Affairs and Fisheries of the European Commission (DG Mare), Aurora de Blas (Spanish General Secretary of Fisheries), Grimur Valdimarsson (Senior Advisor from the Ministry of Industries and Innovation of Iceland), Ross Butler (CEO of Cooke Aquaculture), Haukur Þór Hauksson (Deputy manager of Fisheries Iceland-SFS), Mike Park (Chief Executive of the Scottish White Fish Producers Association), Jóhannes Pálsson (CEO of FF Skagen), Javier Ojeda (Manager of the APROMAR) and Sveinn Margeirsson (CEO of Matís). Other representatives from the fisheries and aquaculture sectors of Denmark, Italy, France, Germany, Greece and United Kingdom also participated in the meeting. PrimeFish Video Competition Together with the work done so far, the project coordinator Guðmundur Stefánsson awarded the winning team of the “Promoting Seafood Consumption” video competition in Vilanova I la Geltrú. A team joining the 3 audio-visual Spanish students David Redondo, Yomar Sardón and Anatoly Komendrovskiy won the contest with a film outlining the characteristics of seafood and the benefits of carrying a healthy and active life. Participation of PrimeFish in the EAFE conference PrimeFish endeavors regarding the drivers and barriers for seafood consumption and the analysis of the French consumption will be presented in the XXIII Conference of the European Association of Fisheries Economists (EAFE) which will be held at the Dublin Castle from the 25th to the 27th April 2017. On the 25th of April, Arnar Buason will present his work related to the French consumers under the title “Fond of Fish? A Count Data Analysis of How Frequently French Consumers Purchase Seafood” on the session entitled “Markets and Marketing of Fish Products”, while on the 26th of April, Kolbrún Sveinsdottir will introduce the public to the “Motives and Barriers for Seafood Consumption: Consumer Perception in Five European Countries” in the session number 13. World Seafood Congress The PrimeFish project will also organize a special session during the World Seafood Conference in Reykjavik during the 12 September. The topic addressed will be the Competitiveness & Economic Sustainability in the European seafood sectors, paying attention to the supply chain relations and the improvement of the sectorial strategic plans.
Keywords
H2020, aquaculture, fisheries, market, consumer, innovation
Countries
Canada, Germany, Denmark, Spain, Faeroe Islands, France, Iceland, Italy, Norway, United Kingdom, Vietnam