Source: Infofish
In barely a month, the largest global tuna industry meeting will commence. Major tuna industry players, tuna governing bodies, NGOs, service providers and government officials will gather in Bangkok for the TUNA 2012 conference and exhibition to be held from 23-25 May. The Honourable Minister of Agriculture and Cooperatives Thailand, Mr. Theera Wongsamut is scheduled to officially open the event. Thirty five (35) well known speakers have confirmed their presence to address major issues affecting the industry. The keynote address by the conference chairman, In Soo Cho, President and CEO of StarKist Co. will highlight global economic outlook, consumer trends and their implications to the global tuna industry going forward.
Sustainability and review of the effectiveness of management measures employed by regional organizations as well as industry initiatives to push for better practices will be discussed in the first session featuring Helga Josupeit (FAO), Alejandro Anganuzi (IOTC), Glenn Hurry (WCPFC), Guillermo Compean (IATTC), Susan Jackson (ISSF) and JK Lee (WTPO). With the skyrocketing skipjack price, other increasing costs and declining demand in major markets, tuna packers are redefining their strategies to remain competitive in the fast changing business environment. Chanintr Chalisarapong of the Thai Food Processors Association (TFPA) will share the Thai canned tuna industry’s experiences in addressing these challenges. Transform Aqorau, CEO of the PNA office, will explore the impacts of various measures implemented by PNA on the global tuna industry, as the group controls around 68% of the skipjack resources in the Western and Central Pacific ocean.
Debate on FAD-free (free school) and pole & line tuna fisheries will start with David Ardill’s presentation. He will argue that the case against purse seining and pole & line in the Indian Ocean is very weak considering the bycatch, bait and carbon footprint factors. This issue will be further reviewed by Victor Restropo (ISSF), Sari Tolvanen (Greenpeace), William W Fox (WWF-USA) and Shiham Adam (The International Pole and Line Foundation).
The latest market and marketing trends in the Americas, Europe and Asia for canned and non-canned tuna products will be thoroughly discussed during the second day of the conference. Chaired by Christopher Lischewski, President and CEO of Bumble Bee and Chanintr Chalisarapong, Thai Food Processors Association, this session brings together reputable speakers from industry leaders and international organizations: Dave F Melbourne (Bumble Bee), Mike Walsh (Orca Bay Seafood), Ron Schindler (Clover Leaf Seafood), Dario Chemerinski (Calvo Group), Helga Josupeit (FAO), Henk Brus (Atuna), Luis Molledo (DG MARE, EU), Juan Vieites Baptista de Sousa (Eurothon/ANFACO), Akira Nakamae (Kaimaki), Fatima Ferdouse (INFOFISH), Pedro Castillo Celso (FIA, PNG), Ziad Abdul Rahim (Gulf Food Industries), Seamus McElroy (consultant) and Eugene Lapointe (IWMC).
The increasing popularity of eco-labeled tuna products and their certification schemes will be reviewed by William Emerson (FAO) following presentations from major certifiers namely Bill Holden (MSC), Paolo Bray (FOS) and Mark Berman (EII). The last, but not the least, session will have interesting topics on transportation by Thue Barford of Maersk Line, X-Ray Vision technology for quality inspection by Allan Anderson (INSPX) and Satellite technology for monitoring fishing community by Chris Wilson of GeoEye.
In addition to the conference, an exhibition featuring latest products, technology and services will be held at the same venue. We are now on LinkedIn where you post your comments.
The Tuna 2012 Bangkok Conference is organized by Infofish and co-organized by atuna.com
